What a summer!

Well I've had issues one after another! First the pump on the Jerry Rig II died 5 minutes into a new batch. The 24.5 gallon batch sat for over a month in the sealed processor and after replacing the pump had an incomplete reaction. Think I just have to re-titrate and do it again. Processor is loaded with another fresh 24.5 gallons and ready to brew again.

OH WAIT! Car problems! Had a shift linkage break on the shifter cable that only left me 3rd and 4th gear. Finally got that fix but know I have seals that have gone bad on my injection pump causing leaks and inability to start the Bug. With the help from the folks over at tdiclub.com I have a seal kit on the way and plan on working on that this weekend.

OH...I forgot to mention I added a second processor that now enables me to process nearly 50-80 gallons at a time. Here's a picture of the addition.

Saw Dust/Wood Chip Filtering

So here's a photo with an example of the results of using maple sawdust & wood chips to filter settled biodiesel. Notice that you can see through the filtered flask. Going ahead with filtering this latest 24.5 gallons with saw dust. Results look very promising!

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.

Jerry Rig II Update

Jerry Rig II processed 24.5 gallons successfully! Only minor issue was a small leak at the water heater element area. I figured if there were any leaks this would be where it would be, due to a mistake on my part on cutting a hole just a touch to big. I built the processor to low and will have to attach a longer drain hose in order to get good drainage of waste by-product. Also will need to get more powerful pump if I want to process 35-40 gallons.

Will also need to install a second water heater element if I want to preheat the oil faster in the processor. I might look at using the turkey frier to preheat like 5 gallons to 200-300 to help jump start and take a load off of the water heater element. Using the turkey frier I can get those temps in like 20 minutes. But I may go to the second water element in order to prepare for methanol recovery using the same processor, might save this for the spring/summer.

Also revisited testing using sawdust/wood shavings and filtering medium and it seems to work really well! I have friend that gave me some maple sawdust/shavings mixture and it worked great. I'm planning on loading up one of my PVC resin towers with this and test on this batch. Letting the methanol evaporate off as much as possible in order to extend the life of the sawdust and to limit the fire hazard as much as possible. Most likely get to that tomorrow and I'll post report and pictures.