G'day mates,

I have not as yet got much gear togethre (I plan on setting-up the Appleseed type reactor) but I finally found and bought a 250L Rheem HWS, it has a 3600W element but that's okay as I have a 15amp point in my shed that I plan on using for the HWS.
On to my question:
I did want to use new veggie oil or canola oil but at $2 per litre that's out of the question. I contacted a supplier in Vanuatu to enquire about buying coconut oil, aparently it makes great biodiesel, but the supplier tells me that Crude Coconut oil also goes solid at about 22Deg C, anyway he is checking to get me a price on importing 200 or 400 Gals (4 or 8 x 50 Gal drums) He reckons the oil will cost me about 75 cents per litre, the cost of the drums and freight is extra, anyway if anyone is interested in coconut oil for making biodiesel give me a hoi and I'll let you know how things work out.
I have also been offered 100 gallons (2 x 50 Gal' drums) of solidified WVO from a fish and chip shop, so I would need to melt the oil in the drum before I could transfer it to the reactor.
Is this solidified cooking oil suitable for making biodiesel and if so, what in your opinion, would be the best way to heat the oil so that it could be transfered from the 50Gal drum to the reactor?

Thanking you in advance for your advice

Bill from Corio

P.S. I have a report in pdf format on coconut biodiesel that was sent to Man Diesels in Germany for testing if anyone would like a copy.

__________________
Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?
This old dog has been learning new tricks for years and...
I hope I can continue to do so!

Yes you can use solidified oil i have been making biodiesel from tallow that i get in 20 lt drums and titrates at 2.6. i heat them using a gas burner under the drum, and when its hot i filter it into my reactor. I dont have any experience doing this with a large 50 gallon drum, and dont know if it is possible to melt 50 gallons with a gas burner under a drum so big, you can get electric elements with builtin thermostats for large drums i got 2 quotes $500.

During the week i got 20 lts of used cotton seed oil from a chook shop it didnt look good but i dont have reliable oil supplies at the moment so i take what i can get. The oil is not good it titrated at 8. What i would like to do next time is to get a sample of used oil on offer take it home and titrate it first to see what quality it is then if it is bad i dont waste the shop owners time and mine.
Hopefully some one with more experience will see this and could give you some more advice. Below i have included a pic of biodiesel i made from tallow. But once this get below 10 celsius it will solidify unless it is diluted with some other fuel.

Attached Thumbnails

 

The transesterification process will lower the melting point of the oil by around 20-30°C. Tallow melts around 40-45°C, Tallow biodiesel melts around 10°C, so Coconut oil biodiesel should be fine to at least 0°C.
Tony

G'day mates,

Thanks for replying to my post, it's much appreciated.
Now I have another question for you, I have been told that the 3,600W element in the 250L water heater I have, is to powerful for heating oils and I should buy a 1,800W element to replace the 3,600W element.
Do you know if this is true?
Thanking you in advance for your advice.

Bill

__________________
Who says you can't teach old dogs new tricks?
This old dog has been learning new tricks for years and...
I hope I can continue to do so!

See my reply to the other post you made on this subject.
Tony