So to summarise, from my point of view:

Option 1, do nothing:
Fuel costs $1.50/litre (average). (as at Jan 08)
I hate the smell, both raw and burnt.

Option 2, use commercial B100:
Fuel costs $1.20/litre (guess).
I have to drive 50 km to Rutherford or 150 km to Marrickville to fill up.
I have heard that B100 can damage paintwork if spilt.

Option 3, Make B100:
Fuel costs $0.10 - $0.50/litre (estimates).
I have to collect and filter oil (time and effort).
I have to buy Methanol ($1/litre) and caustic soda (very cheap?)
I have to convert filtered oil to biodiesel (more time and effort).
I have to handle methanol and caustic soda.
I have to store and dispose of methyl glycerol.
I have heard that B100 can damage paintwork if spilt.
I get sig' less than 1 litre of fuel from each litre of filtered oil.
Filters should last as long or longer than for diesel if I have filtered properly.
I feelbad about not paying excise.

Option 4, 2 tank SVO system:
Main fuel costs $0.00/litre.
Start-up fuel costs $1.50/litre (unless I can get some bio from a home maker)
I have to collect and filter oil (time and effort).
Vegetable oil is good for paintwork and protective against rust.
I get 1 litre of fuel for each litre of filtered oil.
I have to start up on diesel (or B100) and purge before stopping (possibly idling in driveway if I forget).
I have to pay one off for conversion.
Filters should last as long or longer than for diesel if I have filtered properly.

Option 5, single tank SVO system:
Fuel costs $0.00/litre.
No start-up fuel required.
I have to collect and filter oil (time and effort).
Vegetable oil is good for paintwork and protective against rust.
I get 1 litre of fuel for each litre of filtered oil.
I neither have to start up on diesel nor purge before stopping.
I have to pay more than option 4 for one off conversion.
Filters should last as long or longer than for diesel if I have filtered properly.

So for me it was just a decision between 4 and 5.
Since I do mainly longish trips and hope to find an amateur bio producer locally (informal co-operative) and would be having 2 tanks anyway it was no contest. Option 4 for me. Others may find other options more suitable.

Your best insurance would be to use well settled, cold filtered vegetable oil. If the oil is stored in an uninsulated building, it will quickly drop to ambient temperatures and any high melting point oils will drop out over a couple of days. By using the oil from the top of the container, you should have the best oil to use in your climatic conditions.

As the weather warms up, the oils which have solidified will melt again, providing liquid fuel for the warmer months.

While vacuum distillation is good technique to remove water from oil, the fact that it was boiling indicates to me that there was way too much water there when you started.
The absence of boiling does not indicate that the water is all gone.
You should try a hot pan test to verify that the oil is dry.

Hot Pan Test : Almost dry oil can be used to make biodiesel successfully.
WET oil is likely to promote the production of soaps.
The creamy colour of the batch has me thinking that the contents are mainly soap.

The process can react in 15 minutes or less at 50°C if the batch is homogeneous.





A couple of factors which affect the reaction time are:

• reaction temperature (40 - 60°C is recommended) 10°C increase will halve reaction time.
• effectiveness of the mixing method - a small pump on a large reactor will need more reaction time (pumping time) to effectively mix the batch, than a large pump on that reactor.

I hope this helps,
Tony

Good and bad filter elements when using B100

My experience of filter elements for the Lucas/CAV system when running B100 (mixed veg oil feedstock) in Kalgoorlie during summer (can't run B100 during winter - gels up).

Ryco filters (R2132P) block rapidly - caused fuel starving stoppages (once after only 800km). I went through 6 filters and all had similar performance.

Valvoline filters were marginally better - car stopped after ~ 1500km

Cooper filters (522) best performance yet, lasting up to 5000km

Investigation
I cut the filters open after use to investigate. Findings:

Ryco showed no obvious signs of dirt blockages - filter looked clean. It did however cause the car to stop - even with the assist of the inline electric fuel pump (filter on the discharge of the pump) and a fuel heater it still stopped the car. I did note that the Ryco had significantly less filter paper area compared with the other brands.

Valvoline showed no obvious signs of dirt blockages - filter looked clean. Same story as the Ryco. It did have more filter paper area than the Ryco though.

Coopers - same story, no obvious signs of dirt contamination. It had the largest filter paper area (more pleats to the filter element).

Conclusion
My filter blockages are not due to particle contamination. I suspect that the filters are being clogged with some gel or wax like substance in my biodiesel. In an attempt to extend the filter change intervals I washed the BD 5 times (until wash water was clear) and double filtered it (using the original Jackaroo fuel filter) prior to filling my tank with it. I run the inline fuel pump and used the Raycor fuel heater and a heater on the Lucas filter element (thinking that the heat may melt any gel build up). Still the filters failed as above. I have since moved house and have not set up the BD plant so am running on Gull B20 Diesel. The filter blocking problems have dissappeared.




Learnings

1. I use Cooper filter elements (over Ryco and Valvoline) for B100.
2. I change my filter elements every 2000km when running on B100.

Vehicle Details

I run a 1994 Holden Jackaroo with the Isuzu 4JG2 3.2L Turbo Intercooled engine (Bosch Distributor Type Injection Pump) - all standard. I run the standard water trap plus a Raycor (Parker) 6401N fuel heater/water separator and swapped the standard filter with a Lucas/CAV type. I have an electric heater on the Lucas filter element (for winter use only) and an electric inline fuel pump just before the Lucas filter (that has failed after only 1yr of BD100 use).

I recommend installing a heat exchanger before the wvo filter to melt any fat build up. It makes the wvo flow easily throught the filter without putting any load on the fuel pump.

I also recommend installing another "smaller" heat exchanger before the IP that shares both fuels. This to gradually warm up the IP and prepare it to receive heated wvo when you change over to avoid thermal shock. Also when you change over from wvo back to cold diesel/bio - the 2nd heat exchanger warms up the cold start up fuel before it enters the well heated IP again to avoid causing thermal shock.

You can use a single coil heat exchanger from "helton" before the IP to avoid long purge.

I understand everybody wants the shortest purge possible. One heat exchanger before the wvo filter will get the oil flowing but as I explained there is more to it.