Methanol 20litres $56 or 200litres $290
- Hill & Co
Barrier St Fyshwick

Plumbing inc Clear plastic hoes that does not de-laminate
- Allstrut
Isa St Fyshwick

44 Gallon drums with removable lids ex Australian Mint $25
- Farmers Co-op
Yass Rd Queanbeyan

Pump
- eBay or Moruya Farmers Co-op

Mist Sprayer
- Easy Rain
Lyle St Fyshwick

KOH - $80/20kg
- Canberra Discount Chemicals
Mitchell

NaOH = Caustic Soda
- Anywhere

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HDJ80
Canberra

Hi!
Just curious what the price of the methanol and KOH are at these places? Do you recall?
Thanks!

Just advising the Mint does not sell direct to the public anymore. I got mine from Bellchamber Produce in Fyshwick (Ph 6299 7332) for $20 each. It has a removable lid making it more adaptable.

Hi
I'm a new chum here thanks to HDJ80.
By brother in Brisbane has asked me a relevent question and someone here might have the answer to it. We both have Nissans Patrols, his 18yrs old and mine 5 yrs old common rail beast. I have not started doing anything yet but have looked and read a hell of a lot.

Are there any limits on how much combustible liquids may be stored in the home enviroment without "approved" storage 'facilities'?

I used to have a diesel fired heating system with a couple of 1000litre tanks (Not ever full I have to say) but they were supplied by the oil company and were probably approved storage.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Phantom

Diesel and biodiesel are not defined as dangerous but are defined as combustible.
Hazmat was changed in 2005 with the introduction of AS1940.
www.workcover.act.gov.au/pdfs/forms/DS_DangSubsPremises.pdf

This does not excuse poor house keeping or protect you from your own stupidity if you are that way inclined. Methanol and Ethanol burn without a visable flame and are very flammable and dangerous. Awareness of what and how you set things up may avert a serious problem.

If you need a welder then I can recommend Vinko in Belconnen area. Call 02 6254 2397. He also has 60litre drums for free.

i did some quick calculations of the ongoing materials cost of this exercise, with the following assumptions:

using the dr pepper method
purely looking at cost of raw materials
1L of WVO = ~0.8L of usable biodiesel, allowing for wastage
250ml of methanol per litre of WVO
10g of KOH per litre of WVO

assuming one buys methanol in the small batch, the price per litre of resultant biodiesel comes to roughly 75c

when buying metho in bulk, the total comes to 40c per litre

This does not take into account time costs, nor does it take into account initial setup costs (drums, equipment), or WVO transport costs. There is also the assumption that the WVO will not come at a cost - this may not be true for everyone. I have no idea how much it might cost to heat a litre of oil to 120C for whatever amount of time might be necessary...

If anyone has done the calculations for themselves, how does this gel with your observations?

mrnamjama

IMHO I wouldn't be making bio now unless I had a real interest in the process and the Environment.
It sounds like you are wanting to get involved to save money. Well I can tell you that yes your figures maybe close but those figures are for the majority of us that are doing this for the process and the environment or a hobby. If I was doing it to save money I'd never have started, the time I spend collecting wvo, and the up keep of my process takes most of my spare time and cash. I have spent at least a couple grand on my setup just to make good quality bio. I am always buying bits to fix the process..
So if you were hoping this to be a money saving exercise add all your processor cost, time, water, electricity and even vehicle milage collecting wvo.
BTW I expect to only making bio for a short time as I truely expect that the day is not far away when we will be shut down. So if you do get started get in now and make sure that you have a good wvo supply before you get going...
I hope I haven't sounded to harsh but not many people on these lists talk money... It really shouldn't be about money....
Just my thoughts.....

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HDJ80
Canberra

Agree with HDJ80. I spend a lot of my time collecting WVO and maintianing relationships with my suppliers. I've also spent a lot of money setting up my processor, not to mention purchasing a shed, putting in a floor and putting power to the shed. Then there's the cost of all the sundry items required for producing bio.

I think from a money perspective, averaging 20,000km/yr, you'd be looking at a good couple of years to recoup your real cash outlay start up costs for a larger production set-up. Then there's the time that can be imeasurable depending on how you value your time.

Like HDJ80 said, you realy need a reason other than money to be getting into bio, it has to be a hobby/passion 'cause if you account for all of the "real costs" it's probably as expensive as dino.

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Maverick
Canberra

Hi

My assumption was that the dr pepper process is suitable for making of pretty small batches (because that's all I need for my car) quality wise, and that I would have a very convenient and free source of WVO (which I do). As far as I can see, the dr pepper process with basically just 2 litre bottles is quite straightforward and doesn't involve a particularly big outlay in terms of initial startup costs.

Are you of the opinion that it would not be sufficient?