How does one prep/filter Waste Veggie oil to burn in thier car? Is there a economical way?................. Indy

FILTERBAG.com

No affiliation, have not ordered from them.
Got this recommendation at the MOFGA Common Ground Fair in Unity, ME. Always the third weekend after Labor Day.

http://www.mofga.org/fb01.html

If you search there are many threads here that cover this subject.

I can recommend filterbag.com. I've bought filters from them. I recommend the nylon filters. They are washable.

As for how to do it. Like anything homegrown you'll get a million different answers. I'll tell you how I do it.

I get my oil 2 ways. One in the 5gal jugs it came in from one place. The other I suck out of a 55gal drum I've placed behind the store.

When I filter I am always starting with a 5gal jug of oil.

First I let it settle for a few days, the I siphon off any water that collects at the bottem. (If you are starting the siphon by mouth, be carefull, the water sitting under the oil is nasty nasty nasty nasty ).

Then I filter it to 75 microns using a bag filter into a cleaned out 5gal jug (I don't clean it each time. Just cleaned after it had unfiltered oil in it). I typically filter 2.5 gallons at a time. Mostly cause you get tired of lifting a 5gal jug of oil. When the oil doesn't quickly pass through the bag I stop and let it drain, then wash the filter. Then I let it dry for a day or so. If I am in a hurry I whip out the hair dryer to dry the filter (low, carefull not to let it get too hot, it is nylon after all).

Then I filter into 2 different 5 micron bag filters into 2 more cleaned 5gal jugs (same deal, they aren't cleaned each time, but certainly are if they've had anything but 5mic filtered oil in them). I'll filter into these these jugs till they are full. Since I also use these as my fuel cans. When the filter stops flowing well I'll pull them out and use a new filter and clean the old ones.

I have 1 75micron bag filter and 10 5 micron filters. I can usually filter about 10 gallons of oil before I need to wash the filters. I realize I could probably get more use out of the filters if the system was pressurzied, but I don't feel like spending $600 on a peice for canisters for the filters. This way involves a little washing, but the cost was only in the filters themselves. So far I've filtered about 500 gallons through these filters and they aren't showing any signs of wear.

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'84 300CD Turbo 132k (Anthracite Grey) - WVO - My daily driver - Recently named coo-coo-coupe by my daughter.
'84 300D Turbo 240k (Anthracite Grey) - Garage Queen
'83 300D Turbo 220k (Orient Red) - WVO - Wifes daily driver

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.

I got a 7" sock 5 micron polyester filter from McMaster-Carr, cut the bottom out of a paint can, and hose clamped the filter in it. I lined it with another filter made from a T-shirt. With my cubee of oil 12" above the level of the paint can over a bucket, I siphon the oil through the filter. No heating, not much work. I change the T-shirt filter about every 40 gallons, and I've not needed to change the 5 micron yet. I've filtered 250-300 gallons since March of this year.

My oil sources are good, pure fryer oil, so no water ever gets in it. I still run a water separating filter in the car. I filter it colder than I run it in the car, and then I don't need to change filters in the car.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

I use 2 plastic 55gal. drums. I cut a 7" hole in the top of one and made a steel ring mounted on a flange. Bolt the ring on the hole and drop in a 16" long 25 mic. bag filter (about $3. each). The 7" ring on the filter rests on the top of the flange and keeps it from falling into the drum. Pour in 5 gals. of wvo. When the filter is new it just goes right in. As the filter plugs it will take longer and longer.

Make the same type arrangement in the other barrel. Install a 16" bag filter of 5 or 10 mic. filtration. With a drum pump, hand or electric, pump the 25 mic. filtered wvo into the other drum through the 10 mic. filter. If the drum pump gets hard to turn after 10 gals. or so you need to clean the strainer. It is located under the pump where it attaches to the suction pipe. It is amazing how much crud collects here even though the wvo has been through a 25 mic filter. If the connection to the suction pipe is square and is held together by 4 bolts then there is probably a strainer between the flanges. If it is just a screw connection then there probably isn't a strainer.

When the 25 mic. filter starts holding liquid wvo then it is time to clean it. I pull it out, turn it in side out (this is the messy part), scrape the solid fat off into the trash (hide it from the animals-they love the fat), rinse it is gasoline or some such thinner, and put it back in the tank. I don't think that one needs to wash it in soap and water. At $3 a filter you might want to just throw away the filter.

Set this system up where you can either clean the area or where it doesn't matter about the mess, because there will be a mess. Don't store the fuel outside. The sun will cause fungus to grow in it.

For the relatively small amount of fuel that you will use I would not recommend using a pressure system. These systems get complicated and costly. I live in S. Texas so I don't worry about the wvo gelling. In colder climates, from what I've read, there there is a very involved process using caustic, etc. I don't know how costly Diesel will have to become before I would consider this process. Fortunately here the process is dead simple.

I use wvo in my generator, tractor, my son's Diesel 115/300D and my Diesel pu truck. So far I have had no problems.

If you are like me and only do it on occasion when time permits I would reccomend doing like kip floss's set up but on a smalle scale. greasel.com is a good place to get a filter sock. They are about $11 after shipping. Get the short one. Cut a hole in the bottom of a 5 gal bucket, put it upside down, and hang the sock through. Have another 5 gal bucket underneath to catch the filtered oil. Also have something to stabailze the rig. Rig up a faucet or valve of some sort in your bottom bucket so you can hook up a hose instead of having to pour the filtered oil out of it into something that can get it into your car.
Some will reccomend a water trap in your car. I do not have one and have had no negative experience but I only do it on occasion.
Store your filter sock somewhere where the critters can not get to it. I had to get a new one cuz rats or something ate into it.

The way I'm doing it.

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

Where did you get the drum pump with goldenrod filter?

I'm just getting started myself, so still have a lot of things to sort out. I get my WVO from a restaurant in 16 litre pails- perfect for handling.

First step for me is settling the oil. I set each pail up on a concrete block, then suspend an electric charcoal bar-b-q starter into it- making sure it doesn't touch the sides of the plastic pail. I use this to heat the stuff to about 225 degrees F, then let it cool down, heating each bucket in turn. This allows all food particles to settle to bottom of bucket, and hopefully gets rid of any water present.

From then on, I do three steps of filtering. First one is through a gravy strainer, simply pouring into another pail through the strainer, until I encounter the sediment at the bottom. The sediment then gets dumped into another bucket marked "waste", and I clean the first pail out real good with a bit of Kerosene. Second pass is through the gravy strainer lined with cheesecloth folded double with the oil heated up again, this time to 100 F. The cheesecloth catches smaller particles, and also begins to exhibit a waxy build-up. Finally, I do a room temperature pass through a cone-shaped Filter-Queen vacuum filter. The filter laying in a large funnel will hold about 10 litres of oil and takes about 2 hours to pass through. Then I put my remaining 6 litres in- at this point the vacuum cleaner filter is so saturated with wax it takes overnight to finish running through. One of these kinds of filters for every 16 litres is expensive over-kill I think, and I will most likely adopt a more recommended approach real soon.

Basically, my approach is to let it settle, then filter it every time you move it.

Haven't used it in the car yet. I wanted to do Bio-D, but have yet to find an affordable source of Methanol. Barring that, I will have to get a 2 tank conversion done, but in the meantime, I may experiment with mixing my cleaned oil with gasoline, and putting it right in with the Diesel about 20/80.

Dave

1976 300D

I am still looking for a low cost, less messy, and low hands on time pre-filter system . It seems like the pressurized bag filter housing ( aka bag filter vessel ) is the way to go except for the low cost part (being hard to find in junkyards ).
R. Leo - have you made any headway on you DIY bag filter housing ? -thanks

I am new to this list and so am not sure old these posts are but what I have been using for a filter bag housing is a Gallon Apple juice container with the bottom cut off , inverted and the bag stuffed down iside that. The *funnel* end of the jug is then lowered into a funnel. Works well for me.

I burn sunflower or canola oil direct from the supermarket, in 30% to 100% concentration. Love the exhaust (BBQ) smell !!

It's clear and golden and free of anything you'd need to filter. But then I live in France where taxes make diesel about $5 / gallon, so virgin veg oil is about 25% cheaper.

fyi

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Thx/Reno
An American in France
88 300TD 5spd Sportline (lowered factory susp) - totalled by a flying deer
89 Range Rover V8 - the 4wd beast
02 Toyota minivan
05 Peugeot Partner 4x4 Dangel
88 International Harvestor 633SA
--Gone but not forgotten:
1970 250/8 C (sold to buy 450 SLC)
1972 450 SLC (sold after battling wiring harness problems too long)
1971 300 SEL 6.3 (sold after destroying two *very* expensive rear LS diffs)
1986 560 SEL (now my little brother's pride and joy)

I pick up used oil in 5 gal cubbies and after letting it settle at ambiant temp for a few days I pour the top off into a five gal bucket setting over the bung on the 55 gal container. The bottom of the bucket has a hole with a pvc fitting that a swimming pool cart filter will fit snug over. These filters cost around $10 for two, have a large surface area and have worked well for pre-filtering alot of oil. From the 55 gal drum its pumped thru a goldenrod filter straight to my tank for a 80/20 blend with diesel
In the winter I run a 50/50 blend. One tank system with no heater has worked well in the '92 Dodge Cummins for sometime now. Maybe 20K+ miles.

I have about 120 gal. of wvo to be used. I pick up more than I burn once a week.

This simple system has worked well for me. I just need to figure out what to do with all the leftover cubbies. I thought of filling them with cement and building a shop. Soon I'll have enough.

Updated prefilter (10/05)
Bedsheet "rachet strapped" to the top of the 55 gal drum. Punched down in the center to make a cone shape.
Holds about 15 gallons. I pour in three cubbies, return a few mins later and pour in more.

Was that a typo, or do you really run more veggie oil in winter than in summer? Isn't the clouding temp for veg oil higher than diesel #1?

I'd figured the opposite, that I wouldn't run veg oil in winter. Maybe I'm ignorant of the relevant facts. My wife is always saying that, or that I don't listen to her, or something like that.

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Thx/Reno
An American in France
88 300TD 5spd Sportline (lowered factory susp) - totalled by a flying deer
89 Range Rover V8 - the 4wd beast
02 Toyota minivan
05 Peugeot Partner 4x4 Dangel
88 International Harvestor 633SA
--Gone but not forgotten:
1970 250/8 C (sold to buy 450 SLC)
1972 450 SLC (sold after battling wiring harness problems too long)
1971 300 SEL 6.3 (sold after destroying two *very* expensive rear LS diffs)
1986 560 SEL (now my little brother's pride and joy)

I interpret the 80:20 as 80% Used Cooking Oil and 20% diesel in summer and 50% UCO and 50% diesel in winter

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Tony from West Oz.
Fatmobile 3 84 300D 295kkm Silver grey/Blue int. 2 tank WVO - Recipient of TurboDesel engine.
Josephine '82 300D 390kkm White/Palamino int.
Elizabeth '81 280E, sporting a '79 300D engine.
Lucille '87 W124 300D non-turbo 6 cylinder OM603, Pearl Grey with light grey interior


Various parts cars including 280E, 230C & 300D in various states of disassembly.