30,000 miles on alternative fuels - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

spark3542 · #1 10-03-2007, 09:05 AM

This is a status update of where I am:

Purchased my 83 300SD in Sep 2006 with 242,350 on the odometer.

No evidence of the car running anything but diesel prior to my ownership.

The first 8,000 miles I put on were all homebrew B100.

The next 22,000 were WVO/RUG blend. The WVO is filtered to 5 micron. The percentage of RUG varied from 15-20% in the cold winter months (single digit temps) to about 5% in the hot summer months.

I get roughly 25mpg in a mix of city/hwy driving.

On cold startup, I keep my foot lightly on the throttle for about 10-20 seconds to keep it from stalling back. After about 20 seconds it smoothes and it's fine on it's own.

I continue to brew B100, but use it strictly for the home furnace. My method is to pour the good oil off the top of the collected WVO jugs into my filter system for the MB, when I get down to the sludge, I pour the rest of the jug into the biodiesel reactor.

The cost of the WVO blend is a function of the cost of RUG plus a little for the whole house filter cartridges. I estimate about $0.30 for a finished gallon.

The cost of BD is a function of Methanol price and Sodium Hydroxide price. The Methanol I pay a little over $4 per gallon right now, and the sodium hydrdoxide about $2 per lb. The cost of a finished gallon of BD is about $0.90.

The Methanol gets delivered to my house in 55gal drum, the sodium hydroxide is mail-order, the WVO is left outside of 6 restaurants that I stop by on my way home from work on various days during the week.

My time spent on the blend weekly is about 1hr (maybe 1/2 hr filtering and blending, and maybe 1/2 hr picking up oil).

My time spent on BD weekly is more like 5 hrs (brew Fri night, wash it on Sat., dry it on Sun). It takes maybe 4 hrs (intermittently) brewing and about an hour (intermittently) washing. drying takes no effort at all...just compressed air.

I rolled 272,350 miles yesterday and still going strong. I have a spare set of injectors, but haven't felt the need to swap them out yet, so sorry...no photos of my injectors yet.

Most importantly...I've consumed 1200 gallons of fuel in the last year to get me to work, take kids to soccer, buy groceries. 1200 gallons that did not come from the ground in the Middle East.

Doing my best to quietly shift alternative fuels from lunatic fringe to mainstream.

Gauge · #2 10-03-2007, 09:21 AM

Bravo. I would like to learn to make Biodiesel, but the "titrating" sounds very confusing to me. How are you heating the oil? What does your processor look like?

spark3542 · #3 10-03-2007, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gauge

Bravo. I would like to learn to make Biodiesel, but the "titrating" sounds very confusing to me. How are you heating the oil? What does your processor look like?

No mods to the car whatsoever. I'm not sure how this fits into ForcedInduction's pecking order...yes, I'm putting non-diesel things in my fuel tank...but no, I haven't bastardized my sacred Mercedes one bit.

My processor is a standard Appleseed processor...basically an electric hot water heater, a 55gal drum upside down as a wash tank, a pump, and a bunch of valves and hoses. As with any information gleaned from the internet...read alot, believe a fraction of what you read, collect these fractions and develop them into your own strategy, and march forth tweaking and learning as you go.

John Schroader · #4 10-03-2007, 12:17 PM

Great report. I've been running hombrewed bio for a little over a year and have had absolutely no problems with my vehicles. Cost me generally $0.70 per gallon to brew. I too consider this to be a win / win situation. Don't feel like a member of the 'lunatic fringe' -at least in this arena. Thanks for the info.

jugganaut · #5 10-03-2007, 09:22 AM

I think that's great! I haven't found a suitable car yet, but I've been looking for a station wagon that I can convert. The thing that attracts me to running WVO most of all, even beyond the low price tag, is the ability to be self sufficient. Being able to embrace and use an alternative from the norm and make it work well is satisfying in many different ways. I can't wait to find my wagon so I can get started!

Anyone got a 300TD Wagon that want to sell?

#6 10-03-2007, 09:43 AM

pawoSD · #7 10-03-2007, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForcedInduction

I agree....gotta wonder how the rings look in that engine.....

rrgrassi · #8 10-03-2007, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jugganaut

I think that's great! I haven't found a suitable car yet, but I've been looking for a station wagon that I can convert. The thing that attracts me to running WVO most of all, even beyond the low price tag, is the ability to be self sufficient. Being able to embrace and use an alternative from the norm and make it work well is satisfying in many different ways. I can't wait to find my wagon so I can get started!

Anyone got a 300TD Wagon that want to sell?

There are a few $9000 to $10000 ones on the Lovecrap site for sale. If you peruse the LC site, it's amazing at how many "newly converted" cars are for sale...

#9 10-03-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrgrassi

There are a few $9000 to $10000 ones on the Lovecrap site for sale.

No kidding. Most of them aren't even worth half of what they are asking.

BioBens · #10 10-03-2007, 11:10 AM

Congrats, Spark! Just turned 200k on our 84 300tdt and the last 35k were on homebrew bioD from WVO. BTW, I switched to KOH catalyst last summer and it made the process easier, as well as increasing yield and quality.

Ditto: "Doing my best to quietly shift alternative fuels from lunatic fringe to mainstream." Although I find enjoyment and challenges on the LF.

jkoebel · #11 10-03-2007, 12:21 PM

Want to post some details about your filtration system for the WVO? That'd be neat.

I'm setting one up soon myself, so I'm curious to know "what works" best. (And, if I can do a better job than a "kit" filter from Greasecar that runs around $800.)

spark3542 · #12 10-03-2007, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkoebel

Want to post some details about your filtration system for the WVO? That'd be neat.

I'm setting one up soon myself, so I'm curious to know "what works" best. (And, if I can do a better job than a "kit" filter from Greasecar that runs around $800.)

My WVO filter system:

5 gal pail with a hole drilled about 2" up from the bottom and a 3/4" hose barb fitting threaded into it.

3/4" PVC clear hose (from Home Depot) to a Harbor Freight 1" clear water pump (about $25)

3/4 PVC clear hose to whole house water filter ($16 at HD)

3/4 PVC hose from filter to clean cooking oil jug.

Filter cartridges are standard string-wound 5 micron ($4.68 for a two pack at WalMart)

I cut about a 4" hole in the top of the pail, and rest a kitchen strainer over that hole to catch the clam strips and french fries, let the filter do the rest. I fill the clean cooking oil jug almost full, pour in an unscientific amount of gasoline from my red gas can, cap it, shake it, pour it in the vehicle.

jkoebel · #13 10-03-2007, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spark3542

My WVO filter system:

5 gal pail with a hole drilled about 2" up from the bottom and a 3/4" hose barb fitting threaded into it.

3/4" PVC clear hose (from Home Depot) to a Harbor Freight 1" clear water pump (about $25)

3/4 PVC clear hose to whole house water filter ($16 at HD)

3/4 PVC hose from filter to clean cooking oil jug.

Filter cartridges are standard string-wound 5 micron ($4.68 for a two pack at WalMart)

I cut about a 4" hole in the top of the pail, and rest a kitchen strainer over that hole to catch the clam strips and french fries, let the filter do the rest. I fill the clean cooking oil jug almost full, pour in an unscientific amount of gasoline from my red gas can, cap it, shake it, pour it in the vehicle.

Awesome. I'm going to do something like that, except I plan to use 3 or 4 filtration cartridges and the strainer. I was thinking, 200μ strainer, then into pump flowing into 10μ, 5μ, 1μ and 0.5μ whole-house filtration systems (cartridges about $16/ea, lasts like 2 months) If I need to cut costs, I'd use just 10, 1 and 0.5.

The smaller the better, eh? :p

Why blend with gasoline? Wouldn't you blend with regular diesel or K-1 or something?

WD8CDH · #14 10-03-2007, 03:01 PM

Hi Mark,

Depending on your oil source, you are probably not getting suspended water removed from your WVO well enough to not reduce the life of your engine.

De-watering is even more important than filtering. Proper de-watering not only removes the water that can damage your IP but it also removes water soluble contaminants like salt and acids.

If you don't filter well enough, you will plug up filters. If you don't de-water well enough, you will damage your engine.

Proper WVO processing and a good conversion will PROLONG the life of your engine.

jkoebel · #15 10-03-2007, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WD8CDH

Hi Mark,

Depending on your oil source, you are probably not getting suspended water removed from your WVO well enough to not reduce the life of your engine.

De-watering is even more important than filtering. Proper de-watering not only removes the water that can damage your IP but it also removes water soluble contaminants like salt and acids.

If you don't filter well enough, you will plug up filters. If you don't de-water well enough, you will damage your engine.

Proper WVO processing and a good conversion will PROLONG the life of your engine.

Good point.

*mentally adds to list:*

55 gal drum
55 gal drum heater
55 gal drum insulation
thermometer

I found a heater that can "heat a properly insulated barrel up to 425F", I don't figure I'll need it to go much higher than the boiling point of water though...

For safety's sake, I plan to only 1/2- to 3/4- fill the barrel while boiling, so it doesn't boil over and spew boiling oil everywhere.