Makin' BioDiesel

[clarknova]

so I've been trying to wrap my brain around the plumbing situations for a dual tank WVO system.
I was rapping with my brother yesterday (he's a mechanical engineer for a motion control company) and had this whole dual tank figured when he pointed out the obvious:
my daily commute is only 10 miles one way, which isn't necessarily conducive to running WVO. by the time the engine's warmed up and ready to switch tanks, I'm almost to my destination and ready to switch back for shutdown.
so my brother suggested looking into cooking up biodiesel as opposed to converting the fuel system for dual tanks.

I've been researching this and found that making biodiesel isn't difficult at all.
check here: http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_mike.html
there are a couple of different recipes and processes for making bio. Mike Pelly's seems like the logical staring point.

it just seems to me that if you're willing to go through all the hassle of installing a second tank with all the plumbing and heating systems and you're collecting, cleaning and filtering WVO anyway, why not just keep your trunk space and build a biodiesel processor instead?
the price of diesel round here is between $2.30 and $2.65 (yikes!) with B100 clocking in at an even $3.00.
so I'll be experimenting with processing my own bio in the coming weeks and I'll be sure to keep y'all posted on my progress (or lack thereof).

thanx again for everyone's help, this forum rocks

I too have only an 8 mile commute each way, but I've avoided all that chemical sophistication by BLENDING. In hot weather I run about 60% #2 diesel combined with 40% used and very carefully filtered peanut oil from a favorite seafood restaurant; in winter I reduce the mix to 20% peanut oil or less. This works well in older M-B and similar cars with indirect injection and injection pumps that are reasonably tolerant of variations in viscosity. Do a search for biodiesel.infopop.cc for lots of opinions from an international crowd.

[mplafleur]

If you esterize biodiesel, it already has a much lower "freezing" point doesn't it?

WAIT, you live in CA. Why worry at all? Just dump it in the tank and make a mix.

[coachgeo]

Look here in the FAQ's for the thread about BLENDS of WVO and diesel etc. This is a new addition to the FAQ's and is not yet complete with all the information availalbe on the site. Do additional search on the site for "Kugel" and "Blends".

IMHO Blends as discussed in the above threads are much easier and SAFER to mix than biodiesel.

PS. on the same website above is IMHO the best discussion board on biodiesel as well.

[Jimmy Joe]

I still am surprised at the number of people who want to make biodiesel. I buy it for $3 a gallon, and think there should be a market for it. But to make it is a risky enterprise. Ethanol mixed with lye can blind you; even the vapors are extremely harmful. And think of the flammability.
I would way rather work with plain ole veggy oil.
No worries about old rubber parts.
Plus, the exhaust smells much better.
just my 2 cents

[Jimmy Joe]

TheVirginiaDude, I drive a lot of short trips too. That's why I just bought the Veg Therm from Neoteric Biofuels.
http://www.biofuels.ca/VEG-Therm.html
I have heard great things about its ability to instantly heat the fuel just prior to the IP. They even do a single tank conversion, though I am sticking to two tanks to assure that I have just plain biodiesel in my IP on shutdown. I don't want to risk coking the combustion chambers, though a blend might negate that possibility. Just starting and stopping on bio or dino, a tankul will go a LONG time. I am going to put the system together as soon as I can figure out the plumbing.
I like the idea of a redundant system; if anything goes wrong, I just flip the solonoids back to the "original diesel setup."
Great for those cross country trips, too.

Devin's diagram makes the most sense to me for two tank:
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=447609751&f=159605551&m=740601947

[psdsteve]

I run WVO in the Mercedes and make Bio-d for the direct injected truck. I also lik the idea of running bio-d in the car for the start purge as it does a really good job at removing the deposits and any coking caused by the SVO.

By the way I have a good source of Methanol if anyone wants to do a bulk thing and lives close enough to N.California.

Stephen.

[clarknova]

$3.00 a gallon for bio makes no sense, considering it costs around $0.60 a gallon to produce.
I'll probably start with blends until I get a bio processor up and running, although blends defeat the purpose of my endeavors for super cheap if not free fuel.
Albeit producing biodiesel isn't the safest route, but let's face it, you have just as much of a chance (if not more) to blind, maim or kill yourself driving your car as you do obtaining fuel for it.
I understand that sodium methoxide and methanol aren't the friendliest of chemicals, but a little common sense can prevent a lot of pain.
don't get me wrong, I appreciate your opinions and concerns on this matter, but making bio just seems to make more sense for me.
Thanx again for all your input.

VirginaDude - let me know how things work out and if you manage to cook up some bio

On May 1 I started my blending experiment by adding 5 gallons of filtered WVO to 3/4 of a tank of "dinosaur"-diesel in my 1980 300TD. The only noticeable change was better-smelling exhaust. When the tank got down a little below 3/4 I added 5 more WVO. As of today, May 12, I have added a total of about 20 gallons of WVO and no more dino-diesel. So by now the "blend" must be getting pretty low on dino. Today I may have noticed a slight drop in power going up a long hill- I'm not sure yet, but definitely not unacceptable.

[ak300td]

Thanks for keeping us up to date!

I just purchased the parts to make a filter for wvo and I have some bag filters coming in the mail...won't be too long now before I get to blend too!

[VCR]

And what about LPG, it seems to be a good alternative. As any one tried this?

http://www.lpg-kits.com/

http://www.difflock.com/lpg/LPG-Diesel.shtml

the cetane rating and jell point of cicada juice?

I live in the Santa Cruz MOuntains, and I've been running a blend of minimum 50/50. SOmetimes I even go as high as 70 veggie, 30 diesel. It works just great, no hesitation on start up, and the car LOVES it. Runs smoother and quieter. I'm out of veggie at the moment and put straight diesel in the tank, I freaked out for a minute listening to my car run because I thought there was some problem because it sounded so clattery! THen I remembered I wasn't running veggie in it anymore.

[oldnavy]

Well I found a source today for WVO to mix with the dino fuel. All I can use for free, so I am headed out in a few minutes for the filters and and pump.

[coachgeo]

Here is a recent discussion that got into blends. Lot easier than making biodiesel. BLEND