A new processor in the making :-)

[jkis]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

my son picked up a complete solar hot water system less the connecting pipes on a throw out day complete with tank, i have seen the panels on ebay and will keep an eye out for them
cheers stuart

[Tony From West Oz]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

There is usually a reason; Either the tank leaks or the absorber panels leak. Very rarely do both panels or panels and tank leak.
Sounds like you have had a win.

Tony

[Bueff]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Hey guys, thanks for keeping the ideas coming, first of all, the reason I am heating with (solar)power is because I already have a off grid system up and running, I would like to make it more efficient by using the power produced during the day, after the batteries are charged. The charge usually takes about 1/2h in summer. So for the rest of the day I am producing power I don't would not use otherwise.

I have currently insulated the "little" 350l processor with a double layer of the Insulbreak stuff, about 6mm thick foam insulation sandwiched between two reflective layers. During winter I noticed that it would take 3-4 days for the batch to cool down from 55 to 25 degrees.

According to Matt it takes him about 6-7 hrs to heat his batch to temperature with 2x 1800 war elements. If I do a rough calculation, means about 14hrs for 1 element, given a bit of leeway to allow for cooling down over night. In summer this means the oil should be hot after 4 days max.

My processing gear will be fitted in a 20ft shipping container to make it easier to move and to stop silly questions about the silver upside down "rockets" in the backyard :-)

I love the idea of solar hot water panels heating the oil, but I am a bit scared of oil on the very roof I collect my drinking water from :-)

If I had my own shed and land, the turk burner with a heat exchanger be on the top of the list, maybe one day, keep up the good work peter I might get the design drawings for burner 4.6 of you :-)

Many thanks and have a good night!

Jens

[Tony From West Oz]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Jens,
My comments about using solar hot water panels was that they should use water as the heat transfer medium, with a heat exchange coil in the processor. A solar powered pump could be used to move the water around.

The sea-tainer is a good idea, keeping prying eyes where they belong - off your property.

Good night,
Tony

[jkis]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Bueff you run water in the solar panels and use a heat exchanger in the processor, the way i was going to do it is similar to how johno did his with copper tube wrapped around the outside but under the insulation with a double cone on the bottom so it should set up a convection movement for the oil.
cheers stuart

[Bueff]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)



Happy new year everyone! I hope you guys had a great time off with the family!

At present I am returning from Germany where I spent my Christmas with the family. Was quite nice, the weather was rather not to bio friendly, (-15 deg) at times, but I made some interesting discoveries while overseas. First of all I noticed that almost every Fuelstation sells either bio diesel or diesel that contains up to 7% of bio. It's also impressive what these guys have set up when it comes to renewable energies, solar and wind parks, as well as whole roofs covered in solar panels.

Now back to my own project, I have a pic attached of how I wound the copper tubing around the processor to have a solar water heating option for as well. The tank is now insulated and hopefully my parts have arrive before me in lismore and I can have a go at it this weekend.

as you guys can imagine, the flights and waiting times are pretty longish which gives me plenty of time to think about the
design. Currently I am planning to play with meth recovery since Iam making large batches, it would make it worth while.

My questions to you guys is, who has experience with Meth recovery on large batches, and can I recover meth while the glycerin is still in the processor or should I take it out and just recover from the bio?

I'll keep you posted on the progress!

see you soon back in Aus 😃

[jkis]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

good to hear you enjoyed the visit to germany, the reactor is looking good, how many mtrs did it take and what size diameter tube did you use, did you install a second bottom as well ?
cheers stuart

[Bueff]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Hi Stuart, it's 32m of 1/2 inch pipe. I choose 1/2 inch as it is easier to work with, also my solar hot water circulation pump will be 1/2 inch threat as well. There is no second bottom as it would be a pain to seal that of. Well for me and my stick welder that is �� there are also pipes close to the bottom which I am planning to use, so I figured that spaced at app. 100 apart, the pipe wrapped around would do the job. Again heating time is not the most crutual thing for me, once the first 1000 ltr have been made, it gives me a month or so to make another batch��

[peter1]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Not sure exactly what you meant but I take it you added insulation over the top of the copper pipe?

[jkis]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

this might help for the recovery http://www.make-biodiesel.org/Methanol-Recovery/
cheers stuart

[tillyfromparadise]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

I was looking at the "tube in tube" condenser on the page you linked to.
The only reason you would need to use lead free solder is if you were planning on drinking the methanol distilled off. (Not recommended)

I built something similar about 15 years ago to distill my drinking water and designed it so the vapor does not come into contact with a solder joint. So I just used regular lead/tin solder.
I drilled out two end caps for the outside tube so the inside tube "just slipped through" then soldered the end caps on the ends of the outside tube and soldered the inside tube onto the end caps with excess inside tube sticking out of both ends of the outside tube .
I drilled a hole in the top and bottom side of the outside tube and soldered on the cooling water inlet and outlet nipples.
I used a compression fitting to attach it to the output of the still.

I didn't put the crimps in though. Next time I will.

[Matt]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

According to Matt it takes him about 6-7 hrs to heat his batch to temperature with 2x 1800 war elements. If I do a rough calculation, means about 14hrs for 1 element, given a bit of leeway to allow for cooling down over night. In summer this means the oil should be hot after 4 days max.

Jens

That is with one element working, the other is not not sadly, it takes twice the time intended.

I had an equation years back but cannot remember it to calculate the heat required for 1000 litres of oil to get to 60, that was converted to the elements I have with low energy density ie long.

It will be good to see this going.

[Bueff]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE

Bought a shipping container a few weeks back, the oil / fuel storage tanks and the processor are in now its time for plumbing and electrical.

My plan is t try to recover as much methanol as I can with this processor, in most forums everyone is pumping the mix until the methanol has been recovered. Since I am on off grid solar with a battery bank not quite as big as I like it, I was thinking to use the bubbler for the demeth progress.
The idea is to create a slight positive pressure in the processor and "force" the methanol laden air through a pipe to the condenser.

has anyone done this before, any thoughts and ideas?

will post some pics soon.

[Prickle]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

The idea is to create a slight positive pressure in the processor and "force" the methanol laden air through a pipe to the condenser.

has anyone done this before, any thoughts and ideas?

will post some pics soon.

Almost .. except I suck my methanol laden air out ... I picked up a cheap vacuum pump and installed a "bubbler" pipe into my reactor .. I then suck the bubbled air out through a condenser and then "wash" the air through a water bath and then it goes through the vacuum pump and out into the atmosphere. I did use a compressor to push air through the bubbler / reactor / condenser .. but the vacuum does a quieter job .. and less likely to cause problems if something fails

Stuart

[Matt]

Re: A new processor in the making :-)

Just remember most of the methanol remains in the glycerine layer, a small amount remains suspended in the bio layer. Its 6-7 hours with one element, 4 or so with both running at 3.6kW. In my mind electrical is far safer than flame if there is either oil or worse still methanol around. As Cade said, earth the tank. That should happen automatically with the heating elements, earth will be on the outer screw casing so it happens when they are installed.