Home Filtering Stations for Waste Vegetable Oil

[chosenberg]

I want to put a home filtering station together for filtering waste vegetable oil but have a few questions.

1) What type of filters do I get? 1 micron? 5 micron? I know I can get them from Mcmaster. Does anybody have a part number?
2) Where can I get a 55 gallon drum? I'd like to get a cheap used one somewhere. If anybody is in the L.A. area, can you recommend a place?
3) Where can I get a rotary hand pump at a reasonable price?
4) Do I let the oil settle for a week, put the good stuff in the drum, and throw the crud in the trash?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to get on it as soon as possible.

[greasybenz]

this is the proper way to filter veggie.

1. have collected oil sit in container for a week. This will settle alot of the food particles and/or chicken fat to the bottom of the container.

2. syphon off the top of what looks like clean veggie oil and pre-filter it through a 5 micron bag filter into a clean container. heat it overnight in the container to burn out the water. Make sure the container is vented.

You can heat the oil with a high wattage aquarium heater.

3. for final filtration run it though a 1micron bag filter or water filter with a 1 micorn catridge filtering element. and your done.

You can get 55gallon drums for free often times from car wash places. They usually have soap and shampoo's in them that they end up paying to get taken away and recylced. Just ask them for some and they might let you take some.

if not try craigslist.org and see if anyone is selling them or giving them away.

EDIT: as for the leftover crud, if you get chicken fat you can use that as a weed killer. Just pour it on the plant it suffercates them to death. Food particles can be mixed in the dirt or put in the trash.

[PatricdeBoer]

You know what is really nice if you can find them are 30 gallon drums. Most fertilizer places have them for free. The cool thing is w/ 2 people you can lift them when they are full. I just used a hole saw to cut a hole that was smaller than the metal ring in the filter sock and I hung the whole filter into the drum.

[Blevinsax]

I'll copy the text from one of my previous posts with info about my filtration system and link to the original post. Check out the linked post for photos - I cannot figure out how to re-post them here. (Maybe someone can show me how to re-use those pics )

What are the chances Veggie conversion might damage my engine?

I am triple and quadruple filtering my WVO. Here are the different filter levels I am using.

First: Photo #1 - Coffee filter in strainer over bucket (only if oil is really bad - it removes all the big solid stuff and gunk)

Second: Photo #2 - Baja 3-stage funnel fuel filter (with water-separating third element) filters down to 74 microns - I run the WVO through this filter into a 55-gallon drum from which I pump it through the next 2 stages of filtration via a manual rotary pump (I know it's time to change the filter elements when it gets too hard to turn manually - plus I get a workout pumping the oil!)

Third: Photo #3 - ZEE LINE 10-micron filter

Fourth: Photo #4 - Racor 2-micron filter/water separator

Whole system - Photo #5

So far, so good with this setup - I have no overnight sediment and both the VW and the Benz seem to like it.

[dannym]

HEy,
I posted a picture of my filtering system here:
WVO how to start?
I put some chicken wire over the top of the barrel and filter the oil through pillow cases. They actually filter the oil very well.
Then after sitting for about a week I filter again into cubes. I have since refined the second filtering. I now use a 5 micron bag filter in a coffee can. It's a lot cleaner and easier that way.

You can get a barrel from almost any carwash place.

I haven't had any problems with crud in the barrel. I think most of it gets filtered out. Also I get good oil.

Danny

[chosenberg]

Thanks for the tips. After I let the oil settle for a week, where would you suggest I purchase the siphon to sperate the good oil from the crud? Where do you get your filters? Where should I get my rotary hand pump?

[greasybenz]

rotary drum pump $20
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=34679

but i use a drill pump with a corded drill.
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=08302660000&vertical=Sears&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

You can just pour out the top layer out of the cubie (assuming you will use cubies to collect the oil) and pour them into the barrel.

as for the bag filters i bought my 5micron bag filter from the biofueloasis in berkely for $5. But there are many online sources that sell them. Try ebay.

i use this canister filter
http://cgi.ebay.com/Whole-house-filter-unit-10-water-wvo-svo-biodiesel-RV_W0QQitemZ290059056772QQihZ019QQcategoryZ20684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

with a 1micron catridge.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1-case-10-23-8-5-micron-sediment-water-filters_W0QQitemZ160061062345QQihZ006QQcategoryZ20684QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here are some bag filters for cheap.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-Five-5-1-Micron-Polyester-Filter-Bags-WVO_W0QQitemZ320060608016QQihZ011QQcategoryZ1267QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[dannym]

Originally Posted by chosenberg

Thanks for the tips. After I let the oil settle for a week, where would you suggest I purchase the siphon to seperate the good oil from the crud? Where do you get your filters? Where should I get my rotary hand pump?

I do like someone else posted and just pour out the good oil from the top of the cube into my barrel.
I have my valve about 2" from the bottom of the barrel which leaves about 1.5 gallons of oil left after I pour it all out. I don't get much crud but you can always pour out that last 1.5 gallons and dump it.

You can buy filters from McMaster or www.filterbag.com

I use a drill pump that I bought from Home Depot attached to a cordless drill. Works very good.

Danny