Day to Make History

One of the great things about the United States is the ability for it's citizens to vote for their leaders, albeit it sometimes feels that they don't hear or listen to us. So today we go to the polls to cast our vote, our voice for the individuals we feel that can lead our country in the right direction and prosperity. Regardless of your ideology or party affiliation you have to vote! That's the least one must do in order to be a citizen.

Proof in the Pudding (Purolite that is!)

Just wanted to share some pictures of the Purolite results.  In the first image you see the biodiesel in it's raw form after the removal of the glyerol.  Next to it is a small sample of the same biodiesel after it's journey through the Purolite resin tower.  As you can see it's clarity is amazing!

In the last image I added water to simulate a water wash to remove out remaining impurities and soap.  I gently agitated the two samples and you can see the amount of soap (white water at the bottom) that the raw sample had in it.  The water in the Purolite sample is clear as can be!  Using water to get the biodiesel to this stage would have take the better part of 2 days to wash and dry before I could use it.

As you can see the Purolite definitely delivers on it's claims.

Stinky Biodiesel?!

Looks like a new crop has potential for the source of biodiesel.  Stinkweed (Pennycress:Thlaspi arvense L.).  This crop is a fall/winter crop that produces seeds that have a 35% oil yield.

More on this in this article.

Water Washing Revisited

Ok, I've taken a detour from the dry wash resin tower, which has been great, to experiment and test something I just read about water washing.  

Up til now I've been using standard tap water from a garden hose and the use of a mister.  Washing would take on average 3-4 days before I was able to use the biodiesel.  I read on the Infopop Biodiesel forum about the use of hot water and static washing as a way to pull out the soap from the processed biodiesel.  So I tested in a small beaker with some very hot water and WOW soap dropped like an anchor within seconds!  I let this sample set and within an hour I had mayonnaise at the bottom of the beaker.  I washed the sample maybe a total of 4 times with  a fraction of the water I would have regularly used.

So I decided to test on a 11 gallon batch to see if the results were the same.   I used the turkey fryer to bring the 3 gallons of water to a boil, overkill most likely and poured it in.  I let the batch settle for a few hours and came back and drained off the soapy water.  I repeated this process 3 times and my biodiesel was perfect!  I think I lucked out on this batch as the oil wasn't as heavily used thus making the soap content less.  On the batch I tested from the Vietnamese place the oil had been used pretty hard and there was a crap load of soap and would have most likely required a few more washes.  But the end result would have still required less water and speed up my washing time.

I will reserve this technique for use on the oil that has been heavily used in order to limit the amount of soap introduced to my resin thereby extending its life.

Latest update

Well, 22 gallons later (2-11 gallon batches) I have had some good results.  These latest batches were done using the 80/20 method and run through the resin towers.  Man I can't say enough about the resin towers!  I can process and have the biodiesel in the car in one day.  No more water! 

On another not I've decided to dump the vietnamese restaurant oil.  The stuff is so over used and nasty that I just don't think it's worth it.  I have found another source, a local doughnut shop that has given me their blessing.  Gonna have to figure out a way of "sucking" oil out of a dumpster.  I know this is questionable at best but I guess I can play dumb and say the owner said I could.

And the results!?

Finished processing using the 80/20 recipe and the results were great!  Batch passed the 3/27 test with no fall out or settling what so ever, basically means I had a very complete reaction which is a good thing.

Afterwards I decided to run the biodiesel through one of my resin towers manually.  I poured in a pint of unwashed biodiesel in 15 minute intervals that in the end yielded me nearly 5 gallons worth.  When compared with the unwashed sample it was much clearer but I decide to test for soap content.

Took one sample and poured in hot water and soap began to drop out pretty fast, no agitating required.  Within 5 minutes I had very white layer of water/soap at the bottom of this sample.  Took a sample from the resin washed and repeated the same process.  NO SOAP what so ever!  Water stayed clear the entire time.  Went one step further and shook this sample to see if any soap would fall out.  Drum roll please....................NO SOAP STILL!  Poured the 5 gallons into tank this morning and life is good.  I'll be dry washing the remaining 6 gallons tonight to put into the tank

So, in summary from processing to tank using the resin towers takes 24 hours. 

I'm sold on the resin!

Jerry Rig I out, Jerry Rig II in!

While it's only be a short time that I've been processing using JRI (Jerry Rig I) I've learned a lot!  The greatest lesson is that I need to increase my production output and reduce my time making biodiesel! 

Since I'm logging 600+ miles a week my need has out paced my current capacity of JRI, 10 gallons.  At this rate I have to process every week or twice a week and it seems I'm spending more time processing than with my family.  Not good.  If I were doing city driving I think I would fine but as it is now I'm unable to stay ahead of my consumption.

So, I'm in the planning and building stages of Jerry Rig II, a 55 gallon drum.  This will allow me to process around 30-40 gallons of veg oil.  With this rate I could stay well ahead of my needs and only need to process maybe once a month.  Thereby spending more time with the family.

The JRII will be essentially the same design with one slight modification in the addition of an electric water heater element.  This will allow me to preheat the oil in the processor, compared to using my turkey fryer to do this.  I'll still probably use the turkey fryer to jump start the warming process so as not to have wait and use so much electricity.  The turkey fryer I can heat up 5-7 gallons to 150+ degrees in under 10 minutes.  Now I've got to go find at least one or two more sources of oil!

Planning on modifying JRI to become a methanol recovery system, essentially a still.  I'll be taking some time to research and build that, so as to not blow up my shed!

New 80/20 recipe test

I've got a 10 gallon batch in the JR I ( Jerry Rig I) ready for processing.  This time around I'm going to test using a different processing "recipe".  In this process I'm going to introduce 80% of the methoxide, mix for 1-2 hours, and then drain of the glycerol.  Then add the remaining 20% and mix for another 1-2 hours.  Let settle overnight before draining the glycerol.

Why?!  Well in this process it is assumed that if all of the methoxide were used all at once that it would get exhausted before getting a complete reaction, in simple terms.  By introducing the remaining 20% at the half way point is introducing fresh methoxide that should complete the process of any unreacted biodiesel.

Purolite PD206 Ion Exchange Resin Tower (Dry Wash Tower)

Well, as promised here are the pictures of the completed 24" dry wash towers.  Made with Schedule 40 PVC, whatever that means.  Fellow biodiesel partner in crime, Frank, came over this morning to assist in assembling these.  We end up making up 4 towers total, 2 for each of us.

Into these towers will go 2 pounds of Purolite PD206 resin.  There's quite a bit of space left over to allow for expansion of the resin.  They must swell a hell of a lot to need 24"!  2 pounds of this stuff won't take up more than 4" at best!  I'll report back on how they do and with biodiesel results.

Dry Washing

AAARRRGGGH!  I've had it with water washing my biodiesel!  Takes way to  much time and water to get a batch done.  In replacement I've ordered some Purolite PD206 from the folks over at Houston Biodiesel to dry wash my biodiesel.  Houston Biodiesel offers plans, parts, and the Purolite for the building for the dry washing towers with standard PVC parts for a very reasonable price.

In simple terms, you take your biodiesel that has been separated from the glycerol by product and run it through the Purolite PD206, at a certain flow rate, and clear filtered biodiesel comes out ready to be put in your tank!  In theory from process time to fill up time could be achieved in less than 5 hours, depending on the amount of biodiesel needing to be filtered.  Once the Purolite PD206 is exhausted you just back flush with methanol to remove contaminants, dry and reuse!  One pound of the Purolite PD206 can in theory process up to 100 gallons before needing to back flushed, I'll report back on that.

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!

Jerry Rig Video

Just wanted to share a video of the Jerry Rig Processor in action.  In this video I'm circulating some finished Biodiesel in order to dry it of water from the wash process.

Click here to see video.

Jerry Rig Processor

Allow me to first give credit and thanks to all those who helped me and answered my questions. Without their knowledge I wouldn't have been able to accomplish this.

Well, after months of talk, researching, and planning I have completed my biodiesel processor! Tonight I will running my first large batch of about 8 gallons. This design allows me to use the single to process, settle, wash, and dry in one tank. This was chosen in order to conserve space and reduce cost of materials. While I only have on TDI that requires diesel this processor will produce around 11 to 13 gallons of finished biodiesel.

Future plans are to eliminate the wash and drying process through the use of Puralite to do final removal of any remaining lye and methanol. This will reduce the processing time, cost, and use of water during the wash cycle.

I'll try to post complete construction, operation, and results details by this weekend.  Also, the lack of updates to this post is due to have created another blog for a TDI club that we created here in central Indiana.

Building Biodiesel reactor platform

Well we are well on our way! got together with my friend to build the mobile platform to support our AppleSeed Biodiesel Reactor.

Basic dimensions are 30" wide by 70" long. The completed height will be 16" from ground to top. There's enough space to hold the 40 gallon water heater and the washing/drying plastic drum, with extra space for the the pump and such.

Making progress

Well since I last posted I've set up my oil collection and filtering station, pictures to come later. A co-worker, and friend, have begun the process of building our own "Appleseed" processor. I was able to to purchase a used electric water heater for $40 off of craigslist.

I was purchased a couple of 25/10 micron double bag filters from McMaster Carr to filter my collected waste veggie oil. This will be my prefilteration before introducing it into the Appleseed processor. Here are some pics of my filtering and preparation to produce a small 3 gallon batch. More to come later.

First bach of home brew biodiesel

Well with a little bit of patience and help from the net I was able to successfully make two 1 liter batches of biodiesel from clean new peanut oil and used waste vegetable oil. It was rather exciting to see the process happening before my eyes and to pour it into my tank and use it. Only had one little miss hap in that one of my modified caps broke and my biodiesel ended up on the garage floor.

I took pictures of the stages that the oil went through as it turned into biodiesel. When I poured it into the tank I had about 3 gallons left so that turned into about to be a 10% blend. Beginning to make a 5 gallon batch.

BioDiesel Home Brew

So, this weekend I'm going to give making a small 1 liter batch of pure 100% Biodiesel. In order to make it as simple as possible I'm going to be using a very method referred to Dr. Pepper. This linke provides the details and instructions to make a successful batch using clean unused oil.

http://www.kitchen-biodiesel.com/

I'll be photographically documenting this process for you viewing pleasure.

For the record today I was able to do my first true mileage assessment. After a full week of driving since my last fill up I logged 588 miles when my fuel warning came on. I filled up with 12 gallons of diesel and it averaged out to 49 MPG. This was mostly highway driving but there was some in town driving as well. Knowing that the light comes on with 2 gallons to spare I figure I can safely get nearly 700 miles per tank!

To Veggie Oil or Biodiesel?

So no that I have my diesel dream I've been presented with a new dilema, WVO (waste veggie oil) or make my own biodiesel? Each has it pro's and con's and make for a tough decision. So let me try to break it down for ya (myself).

WVO--PRO
-Free oil
-Little or no processing required
-Very Green

WVO Cons--
-Costly car conversion
-If not careful can damage engine
-Winter viscosity issues still have to use diesel

BioDiesel-- Pros
-Straight into tank no winter concerns, for those of you in warm states above 50 degrees.
-No costly car conversion
-Less chance of damaging engine

BioDiesel-- Cons
-Winter have to blend in order to not gell fuel. Most recommend no higher than 20%.
-Dealing with hazardous chemicals
-Not as cheap as WVO
-Longer processing period of time

So you see my choices are tough! Each has it's merits. As for the hazardous chemicals part a co-worker has offered to host the processor for the biodiesel. This is great and I won't have to worry about my toddlers being near the stuff in the garage or blowing up my house.

Oooh, the milage

It's only been a day but I've already been given a preview of just how fantastic the mileage will be with the Beetle. I filled up this morning so as to have a full tank to do my mileage logging. We drove up to Muncie to visit my parents on our daughters 2nd birthday. Muncie is about an hour north of Indianapolis, about 60 miles. Based on the fuel guage I can at this point say that I'm getting nearly 55MPG! HOLY CRAP! This driving was done with 2 adults and 2 toddlers in car seats and traveling at 70mph!

Man I am going to love this car!

I finally got it

Well, it's been a week but it was worth the wait. SHE'S MINE!!