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  #1  
Old 03-10-2003, 01:21 PM
TJM
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bio-diesel

Greetings brain trust,
I live in NY where there appears to be no biodiesel. Does anyone have a contact to get information on brewing up your own?
If it were simple enough, I would construct a tank on a trailer, and go to the various fried food places in my town collecting and filtering the old oil. I have two other friends with M-B diesels, and the backup generator is diesel. We could split the costs. Am I crazy?
Seems like a great recycling plot to me. But i'm probably over simplifying as usual.
thanks

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Old 03-10-2003, 01:45 PM
Fimum Fit
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There really are lots of sites on the Net.

I suggest that you start with biodiesel.infopop.net -- this is the one with the best information, in my opinion, and the most freedom from political posturing (actually, many of the best posters there are Australian or British).
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Old 03-10-2003, 02:02 PM
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TJM

I am considering doing some brewing also but the few burger joints I checked have some outfit that collects their fry fat for free to use in the making if ladies face goo and soap. this is a rural area, maybe its easy to come by in the city.

BTW I picked up a good 500 gal tank at the scrap yard for $15.00, seems the price of scrap steel is way down. Good Luck
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Old 03-10-2003, 02:09 PM
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good bio links found here.
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Old 03-10-2003, 03:18 PM
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http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/search.php?action=showresults&searchid=375159&sortby=lastpost&sortorder=descending
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  #6  
Old 03-11-2003, 05:36 PM
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TJM,
I'm researching the possibilities of biodiesel production myself. Driving around with a collection tank and pumping up what you need sounds good but has problems. The main one being in cold weather the WVO is rock solid. A better solution would be to drop off a collection vessel, like a big plastic trashcan and then go collect the full and leave them another empty. Then you can take the oil home/indoors and let it thaw. If the restaurant is really nice maybe they will simply put the used oil back in the original containers. That would make it real easy. The second problem I am having is finding a source for Methanol. Its considered a "hazardous substance" so no one will sell it to private citizens. I understand it is available in the form of "racing fuel" but I have not tried to get it yet. The one place that would sell me Methanol wants $10/gallon which is obscenely expensive. I am now considering a dual-tank heated WVO fuel system as the processing is just a filtering/washing/drying stage. RT
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Old 03-11-2003, 06:51 PM
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Our local Chevron dealer has it in 55 gall drums for , I think about $150.00 if I remember right.
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1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
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Old 03-11-2003, 10:38 PM
Belvario
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Don't forget Joshua Tickell's book, From Fryer to Fuel Tank - you can order it here - http://www.veggievan.org
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  #9  
Old 03-12-2003, 10:19 AM
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..and don't be too quick to pass up the two tank system. I've got my '84 300Dt running with heated 12 gallon tank for straight WVO in the trunk. Also rigged a heated fuel filter ('85 Golf diesel fuel filter - metal canister type - with copper tube spiral wrapped around it. Same coolant circuit that heats the veg oil fuel line and tank). Drove 1400 miles through New England and NY last week, about half on veg oil despite temps down near zero.

All the info (including parts lists) in "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank" as referenced in an earlier post.

Good luck!
fmb
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Old 03-12-2003, 10:48 AM
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Good for those of you that are making the modifications and doen it, But are you having any trouble getting the fry fat? There is lots of info out there now but getting the fat seems to be the problem around here.
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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"
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  #11  
Old 03-13-2003, 12:05 AM
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so far so good with my oil source. I have two restaurants that let me have all I want. Only problem I have is water content since the barrels are never closed right. I've been boiling 5 gallons at a time to get the water out. After that, no problems. The trick is to find one good source and get permission.

F
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Old 03-13-2003, 12:20 AM
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Fred,

I thought that one of the reasons you made biodiesel is that WVO is too viscous and would damage your injection pump????

I guess you have not had any problems with your engine running on heated WVO?

Sholin
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Old 03-13-2003, 09:12 AM
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Do the restaurants ask what you want the used oil for? Or do you tell them before hand? How did you approach them?

Is one kind of restaurant better than another?
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Old 03-13-2003, 09:38 AM
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Hello all. First tries the mom & pop type restaurants not chains (burger king). Eat there a couple of times then ask. I have found that when I tell them what I am doing they will are more than willing to let you have it. There are some good links that will explain all.

http://www.greasel.com/

http://www.greasecar.com/
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  #15  
Old 03-13-2003, 10:20 AM
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The key is to heat the veg oil to reduce the viscosity. That's the reason for second, heated tank and heated fuel line/filter. Start and warm up on diesel, then switch to veg oil, then switch back a little before you shut down (to flush the IP). It's not for everyone or every trip but works great whenever the car will be running more than 15 minutes or so.

As noted, I do eat at the same restaurant and they know me and my "crazy" car. I've found that chinese places tend to burn the oil (I think, maybe cooking in a wok?). Japanese is better - probably just frying tempura. Some place that does lots of french fries would be best, but not BK or Macs, since they have recycling contracts and get paid for their oil. The smaller places must pay to have it hauled off.

F

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