After some thinking and searching for a possible solution to my pump upgrade I stumbled upon the discussion and use of eductors as a way of increasing the mixing efficiency of large volumes of liquid with existing small pumps. The basic concept is that the liquid is pumped through a smaller orifice, thus creating a high pressure stream, which is shot down the center of a surrounding shroud. The back of the shroud is open allowing for the high pressure stream to create a vacuum. The eductor(s) would be submerged in the bio mix nearly reaching the bottom. Some have designs where the place one at the bottom and one at the near the top.

The eductor has the ability of increasing the mixing capabilities to 3-5 times that of the liquid being pumped. So if this is correct my 5gpm pump would be turned into something like 15-25gpm! Looks like fish pet stores sell them.

Biodiesel Cold Weather Issues

Well, here's a visual example of what happens to B100 when the temps drop to around 28 degrees fahrenheit.

From The BioD TDI

Depending on the vegetable oil you started with and how good your process was will determine the gel point of your biodiesel. If you use the hydrogenated style of oils you will have higher gel point.

With winter the use of B100 is pretty much going to be put on hold, especially for those of us in the northern regions. While one could install a two tank system like the straight vegetable oil (SVO) to preheat and then switch over to the B100. For the rest of us we will have to take blending our B100 with either DinoDiesel or with some Kerosene. Now I have to say I myself have not yet done this so I can't provide my personal insight on this, YET. As soon as I'm finished and start processing in the new Jerry Rig II I'll have to do some blending in order to use my fuel. Looks like I'll have to start maybe with a 80% B100 blended with 20% Kerosene as a starter. As it gets colder the blend of Kerosene will have to increase. But basically I'll have to take samples and experiment with the blend in order to get the right mix before adding to my tank.

Here's a nice discussion on the matter on the Biodiesel Infopop forums into the matter. I'll also add this link directly to the side bar for easier access.

Some Newbie Issues

So, after having completed the Jerry Rig and processed 13 gallons I made some rookie mistakes.  After some research and assistance from the the folks over at the Infopop Biodiesel forums I was able to recover from my mistakes.  My errors were two fold that all occurred after a successful initial process.  Both issues were post process errors that were frustrating.

Error number one was in attempting to get as a complete/pure biodiesel.  I performed a test called 3/27 that is a good indicator to the completeness of the process or purity of the biodiesel.  This test requires that you mix 3ml of biodiesel to 27ml of methanol and observe for any settling or fallout of any unprocessed oil.  In my case there was minimal dropout less than 1/2ml based visual inspection at the bottom of my test jar.  Based on this there is a standard reprocessing recipe that will remove the remaining free fatty acids.  This recipe is to mix 1ml of lye with 50ml for every liter of biodiesel.  Well, I got just a wee bit to much lye in the recipe and my biodiesel turned to gravy or better known as soap!  Well drained this out of the processor and into a jug for future experimentation.  It would appear that the combination of this "gravy" and glycerol (the by product of making biodiesel) in about 3:1 ratio allows for the lye to drop back out.  Tested this out with a liter of "gravy" and got my biodiesel back.

Second situation was in washing 8 gallons of biodiesel.  During the first wash I introduced a bubbler to help in the washing of the biodiesel, a popular technique.  After a couple of hours of bubbling I came back to find this very milky liquid that turned out to be emulsion, essentially soap suspended in the biodiesel.  I attempted to wash a second time but the results were identical, so back to the forums.  There I found that bubbling during the first wash was not recommended and it should be used during the second or third wash at the earliest.  DOH!  But the forums were awash with cures for this to rescue the biodiesel.  The cure is the use of a salt water solution to break the emulsion bonds.  I simply mixed one gallon of hot water and some Kosher salt, about 1/3 of the box, and mixed it into the biodiesel.  Mixed for about 5 minutes then let the batch settle overnight and VIOLA!  This particular batch has been washed and dried and is now in the Beetle!