Bio-Diesel - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 12-06-2008, 07:11 PM

What did you think of those chemical engineers in Nevada making bio-diesel from Starbucks coffee bean residue? They claim they can make 840 or so million gallons a year from them. That may not be the exact amount but it was a lot. I guess, there is no end to the possibilities!

LUVMBDiesels · #2 12-06-2008, 07:28 PM

Bet the cars will run like faster on Starbucks than on anything else -- I want my engine caffeinated....

Marty600 · #3 12-06-2008, 07:34 PM

A 'link' to this story would be nice, so we can post our thoughts...googling is not as user-friendly as it used to be.

mbdieselwannabe · #4 12-06-2008, 08:08 PM

I always get heart palpitations from Statbucks. I never feel right on the stuff...

Can't imagine what my 25 year old car would do on it.

rcounts · #5 12-06-2008, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marty600

A 'link' to this story would be nice, so we can post our thoughts...googling is not as user-friendly as it used to be.

Here you go...
http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2008/11/25/used-coffee-grounds-for-biodiesel

Not too many hits on the search terms "starbucks biodiesel"

Skippy · #6 12-07-2008, 12:12 AM

A couple of months ago, I ran into a guy in the parking lot of a local grocery store who was curious about my car (was driving the 250 that day). After I mentioned I had a couple of Mercedes diesels and was using biodiesel in them, he told me about his work on that very project. I was a bit skeptical of using old coffee grounds to make fuel, but he was quite enthusiastic. At that point they had already made a few small batches.

rcounts · #7 12-07-2008, 04:04 PM

The biggest difficulty I could see in doing this is that the grounds wold have water in them, so as you press the oil out, you're going to get a lot of water with it. Then you'd have to separate the oil and water. Not a really big deal, since people regularly do a water wash of the finished product and settle the water out of it anyway. Just adds one more step to the process.

I wonder how many pounds of grounds the average store goes through per day or week? The article says the grounds are 15% oil - presumably measured by weight - so if they were going through say 100 pounds a day, that's 15 pounds of oil - about 2 gallons. 7 days a week = 14 gallons a week of oil that could be extracted from their waste grounds.

If a guy had a press handy, that might be worth the effort, given that wvo has become so hard to find these days. Unfortunately, building or buying a press would probably be way to costly of an "extra" expense to make it worthwhile for the average Joe to make bio from Joe...

charmalu · #8 12-07-2008, 08:20 PM

can you emagine the exhaust smelling like french Roast instead of
French fries?

Charlie

SD Blue · #9 12-07-2008, 09:54 PM

I can imagine the idea of new "smells" being concocted.

Either it will give your diesel a little extra caffiene pep or the runs. This might depend on the "age" of your car. Hmmm...... I wonder how MB diesel benz years compare to human years with regards to aging.

rcounts · #10 12-08-2008, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmalu

can you emagine the exhaust smelling like french Roast instead of
French fries?

Sounds good to ME! I'll take a Mocha over an order of fries ANY day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SD Blue

This might depend on the "age" of your car. Hmmm...... I wonder how MB diesel benz years compare to human years with regards to aging.

I'd say about 2 to 1. One human year = 2 MB years. That would make my car about the same age as me, and that sounds about right. We're both a little creaky, and have some physical imperfections, but we're both in pretty good "health" for our age, and once you get us wound up with a full head of steam, we can both keep up with others half our age.

Remember, it ain't the years, its the mileage....

thayer · #11 12-08-2008, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcounts

Sounds good to ME! I'll take a Mocha over an order of fries ANY day!

I'd say about 2 to 1. One human year = 2 MB years. That would make my car about the same age as me, and that sounds about right. We're both a little creaky, and have some physical imperfections, but we're both in pretty good "health" for our age, and once you get us wound up with a full head of steam, we can both keep up with others half our age.

Remember, it ain't the years, its the mileage....

Raiders, Boat scene.

SD Blue · #12 12-08-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcounts

...........I'd say about 2 to 1. One human year = 2 MB years. That would make my car about the same age as me, and that sounds about right. We're both a little creaky, and have some physical imperfections, but we're both in pretty good "health" for our age, and once you get us wound up with a full head of steam, we can both keep up with others half our age.

Remember, it ain't the years, its the mileage....

Rather than mileage, I'm thinking it's proper diet (good clean hi-cetane #2 diesel) and regular exercise (spirited drive on a winding road in the countryside) and a nip/never in excess of spirits (diesel purge, etc.) for well-being.

And a good rub-down (wash & hi-quality wax) will always lift her spirits.

rcounts · #13 12-08-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thayer

Raiders, Boat scene.

???

deadhead300d · #14 12-08-2008, 10:02 PM

i am probably the only person my age who hates that stuff. i think they put exlax in it or something it tastes great but 30 minutes later my gut starts hurting and making some funky noises and i better be near a toilet

81300sd · #15 12-08-2008, 10:35 PM

Thats how us old farts stay regular.