Biodiesel Process Mixers

[rondari]

I want to use Biodiesel, but I dont want to muck around with plumbing and drums and stuff ... I want an off-the-shelf Biodiesel Process Mixer.... thrown in my oil, and my methanol and that's it.

C'mon! ... if someone can make them for $1500 (AUD)... they'd sell like hot cakes.

I've seen this one:
http://www.airaus.com/airaus/item.js...134&edit=false which airaus says sells for $2900 (AUD)...

does anyone know of a manufacturer in Sydney? .... or of any other off-the-shelf systems?

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Rondari, the biggest consideration in biodiesel production is feedstock availability. If you are sure you have access to a quantitiy of fat/oil, then you can take a look at what you need to produce it.

A lot of people who have access to a fair amount of oil are setting up "Appleseed" processors, which are converted water heaters. There is a link to plans and discussion about the processor on the Infopop link that is mentioned on the Sydney Biodiesel Users webpage. You will be able to set up your own Appleseed for a few hundred dollars.

I have designed and patented a smaller processor that may be available in the next six months. It is for doing small batches, say 10 litres (targeting shops and the like) and is very easy to operate. It will sell for less than $30. No titration, no mixing of chemicals, no measuring of liquids - just the type of pour and go concept you seem interested in.

If you are keen then maybe I could sell you one of the first prototypes at cost and get some feedback from you. We anticipate doing a small batch run to see what problems we may need to address. Hopefully, we will have the first run out in the next 6 weeks or so.

[joe]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

I'd be interested in one of your prototypes. Can we discuss it more.

Cheers

I'm excited

Rondari, the biggest consideration in biodiesel production is feedstock availability. If you are sure you have access to a quantitiy of fat/oil, then you can take a look at what you need to produce it.

A lot of people who have access to a fair amount of oil are setting up "Appleseed" processors, which are converted water heaters. There is a link to plans and discussion about the processor on the Infopop link that is mentioned on the Sydney Biodiesel Users webpage. You will be able to set up your own Appleseed for a few hundred dollars.

I have designed and patented a smaller processor that may be available in the next six months. It is for doing small batches, say 10 litres (targeting shops and the like) and is very easy to operate. It will sell for less than $30. No titration, no mixing of chemicals, no measuring of liquids - just the type of pour and go concept you seem interested in.

If you are keen then maybe I could sell you one of the first prototypes at cost and get some feedback from you. We anticipate doing a small batch run to see what problems we may need to address. Hopefully, we will have the first run out in the next 6 weeks or so.

[Robert]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Hi Terry,

I'd be keen to find out more about your processor too. I'm sure there would be lots of members here also keen to test it out for you.

Not sure if you'd want to say too much about it yet, but if you did want to promote it, I'd be keen to help you out by posting up some info/photos of it here and on the sydneybiodiesel.com site as well.

If you are interested, private message me and we can discuss.

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Robert, I was involved in discussions with moulders last week and the first processors will be “rotationally moulded” rather than “blow moulded”. This will produce a more robust processor, but unfortunately it will now cost about $50 for the processor. Hopefully, I will later produce them by blow moulding and get the cost down to less than $30.

I really want to make them inexpensive so that many people will purchase them. When Peak Oil hits hard, we will need an army of people scrounging around for every litre of WVO to convert to biodiesel. The commercial waste oil firms only pick up the WVO from the economically viable shops, all the smaller out of the way shops (and home useage) just aren’t on the radar. When fuel costs go up, even the commercial operators may have to cut back on their routes in order to save fuel.

Speaking of costs, in my conversations the cost of plastics has now gone up considerably, also methanol (derived from natural gas), so we are beginning to see the effects of depleting petroleum.

When I get the first run of processors ready I’ll get together with you and you can try it. Better yet, let’s find someone that has never even heard of biodiesel and let them make it. They will think it is a hoot to whip up some biodiesel, pour it into my van and then drive around the block.

[David]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Mee Too!
I would be interested to find out about this processor. I don't have a diesel car yet but I'm looking for one. Even as a demonstration sized unit costing $50, its less than a tank full of DinoDiesel.

Do you have any plans at this stage to do any bigger units? Something around 50L may be good for a lot of people and not to large to intimidate them either . I have seen lots of plans for appleseed processors on the net but I'm still to fully grasp all the plumbing connections. Maybe something that is very simple would help people understand the practicalities better so they knew what actually had to take place in a more complicated processor would be helpful.

You mentioned about the collectors only picking uup from larger places. As a matter of interest, Do you have any idea of what they consider to be minimal qty's? There are heaps of small places near me and I know a lot of their WVO goes into the dumpster.

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

David, I don't have a clue about the pick-up criteria of the various collectors. If you see, say a Scanline drum outside a shop, then that is a shop that Scanline picks up from. Each shop is different, however here is a hint, if you see the containers that oil came in being reused to hold the waste oil, then it is likely there is no commercial operator picking it up.

Just because you can get your hands on some WVO doesn't mean your on to a good thing. If the oil is really nuked from usage, then the yield will be way down. People that get into biodiesel become WVO connoiseurs.

If you wanted to make 50 litres with my processor you could just do four 12.5 batches back to back. The longest part of the process is letting it settle. You could do four batches in four hours (55 minutes of that hour is settling time, go read a good book) and then let all the biodiesel further settle overnight in another recepticle. However, making 10 litres each day would likely be more than enough biodiesel for most people. Just make it up during the day and then use it the next morning (unless you wanted to wash the biodiesel of course).

[Billyh]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Robert, I was involved in discussions with moulders last week and the first processors will be “rotationally moulded” rather than “blow moulded”. This will produce a more robust processor, but unfortunately it will now cost about $50 for the processor. Hopefully, I will later produce them by blow moulding and get the cost down to less than $30.

I really want to make them inexpensive so that many people will purchase them. When Peak Oil hits hard, we will need an army of people scrounging around for every litre of WVO to convert to biodiesel. The commercial waste oil firms only pick up the WVO from the economically viable shops, all the smaller out of the way shops (and home useage) just aren’t on the radar. When fuel costs go up, even the commercial operators may have to cut back on their routes in order to save fuel.

Speaking of costs, in my conversations the cost of plastics has now gone up considerably, also methanol (derived from natural gas), so we are beginning to see the effects of depleting petroleum.

When I get the first run of processors ready I’ll get together with you and you can try it. Better yet, let’s find someone that has never even heard of biodiesel and let them make it. They will think it is a hoot to whip up some biodiesel, pour it into my van and then drive around the block.

I'd like to be the dummy if thats possible.

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

To bad Bill, you've already heard of biodiesel!

Bill, I'm over in Dural, so it isn't that far over to Hornsby Heights. When I get the first prototypes out, we can get together and do a demo for your 4 wheel drive club.

Imagine being able to pull into a fish and chip shop somewhere, order a burger, chips and coffee - then bum 10 litres of WVO to continue the journey! You could put the oil and formula in the processor and then lay it down on the hot bitumen (or your bonnet) to heat the oil.

It takes less than an hour for the chemical process to complete at 50C, about 1.5 hours at 40C, and 3 hours at 30C.

[Billyh]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Sounds good to me.
Give me some lead time to arange the club meeting at least a month the club meets on the second Tuesday of the month.
Do you have plans for a distiller of the unused Methanol in the byproducts?
And a washer.
What is the effect of using unwashed biodiesel on injectors and injector pump or filters and of course the motor .

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Sounds good to me.
Give me some lead time to arange the club meeting at least a month the club meets on the second Tuesday of the month.
Do you have plans for a distiller of the unused Methanol in the byproducts?
And a washer.
What is the effect of using unwashed biodiesel on injectors and injector pump or filters and of course the motor .

Bill, no distiller for the unused methanol in the byproduct. If you want to cut down on the amount of formula you use, it will decrease the percentage of conversion. It's up to you, its your fuel.

You can wash in the same processor after you drain the glycerin/byproduct. If a person is going to wash, then I suggest adding 5% water (to the amount of WVO) to the finished biodiesel before the glycerin is drained. This takes a surprising amount of soap/glycerin out of the biodiesel, which helps with subsequent washing. It also frees up trapped biodiesel in the glycerin; sometimes in very nuked WVO that is as much as 4% biodiesel trapped in the soap.

You can also do a 'static' wash overnight where the water is added to the biodiesel (after the glycerin is drained), lay the processor on its side to increase the surface area of the water phase with the biodiesel. If this technique is done properly you won't have to dry the biodiesel. It does get out most of the glycerin in the biodiesel, but not all.

There's lots of techniques to making biodiesel. It is up to each person how they want to make it. Usually, people start out trying to make the highest conversion and the clearest water wash. Later after they get some experience, they try to make the most fuel with the least amount of time, energy and money.

As far as the use of 'unwashed' biodiesel, take a look at the archives on the inforpop forum. We have asked these questions for years. So far, there has never been reported problems with using unwashed biodiesel - except for occasional filter clogging. Even the filter clogging problems can be addressed with an extra water precipitator in the fuel line. If the filter does clog, you can just wash it out with some water, then put it back on the truck.

Injectors and pumps love biodiesel, it is a lubricant. I have actually used biodiesel glycerin to clean the varnish out of my injectors when they started acting up after a tank of suspect cheap dino diesel. I had to remove the injectors to clean them, the glycerin disolved the varnish and I washed it away with some water.

I have used all sorts of variations in fuel in my Toyota 2L engine. Sometimes as a demonstration I have used biodiesel that has only settled for a couple of hours. This puts a fair bit of glycerin in the fuel, but I have never had any clogging of the filter. I expect one of the reasons why I haven't had any clogging is that I occasionaly add some menthylated spirits to the tank to flush out any water/glycerin.

[Alga]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

hello, just registered and very interested in your mixer. I am in Tas, in a place they call the end of the line. Nothing below us but the antartic and our fuel costs are horrifc. I have lots of diesel equipment and have just met a bloke that runs his car on biodiesel. We have a good size propety and are about to growing mustard seed, to see how much we can produce. I really no nothing about this process, so would like to buy at least one of your mixers when ready. Or any mixer that will help a old bloke like me make fuel.

[Robert]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Hi Alga,

You (and your mate) should post up a message in the Tas local community section. It would be good to see it become populated with other Tasmanians in time. Someone has to be the first, and people are more likely to go there if others have been before.

Cheers,

[MommaLopez]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Terry, PapaLopez and I are also extremely interested in your processor, as in ready to purchase. Please put us on your customer list, if you've got one started.

Cheers,
Eva

[Terry Syd]

Re: Biodiesel Process Mixers

Alga, it sounds like you need a much bigger processor than my project. My processor is targeting the restaraunt/fish and chip shop operator, or maybe a cross-country driver, or maybe an educator who wants to demonstrate the simple process of making biodiesel. Essentially, somebody who has limited access to space or a small amount of WVO to process.

For your purposes I suggest you go to this link.

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/cfrm/f/607108578

If you go down to the section on equipment, you can access information about building an "Appleseed" processor. This simple and effective processor is made from an old water heater. You could probably put one together for a couple of hundred dollars. From the experiences you get with the Appleseed, you could scale up and make a larger version for your property.

MommaLopez, my small processor maybe appropriate for you and PappaLopez. Unfortunately, I have had another set-back in getting it to the production stage. I would like to say it could be available in a couple of months, however the way things have gone in the past it will probably be another six months!