Bio-Diesel

unregistered65598 · #1 10/25/12, 06:16 PM

If this is in the wrong place please move it.

We have the means of getting 12 gal of used grease a week, we can purchess a flitration system pretty dirt cheap. Dh is really considering this but is drawing a blank on what chemical you add to it to change the gel point of it. Anyone know what that is?

Thanks.

Raeven · #2 10/25/12, 06:26 PM

It's lye. The process is surprisingly similar to making soap. Which is a good thing to make from all the glycerin you have left over from making your bio-diesel.

unregistered65598 · #3 10/25/12, 06:32 PM

DH says that a cheap way of titrating the original oil to get rid of the lipids, what he is trying to remember is the chemical they used in the refinery to decrease the gel point of diesel fuel.

Darren · #4 10/25/12, 06:33 PM

Diesels will run on SVO (straight vegetable oil). The conversions use the engine heat to keep the oil from gelling. A local man runs it in the Cummins iin his Dodge. He can run either vegetable oil or diesel. The vegetable oil is carried in a tank with a heater that uses the hot coolant from the engine. He recently upgraded to a centrifugal speparator to clean the oil.

Using SVO means you don't have to convert the used cooking oil into biodiesel.

unregistered65598 · #5 10/25/12, 06:42 PM

Thanks for all the info so far,

but thats not what were looking to do, we want to use this oil in the truck and a generator were looking to get. The problem is how cold it gets here, I know there are things online that you can by from others who have made up the additive, but DH worked in a refinery and just can't remember the name of the chemical they used to change that gel point.

Darren · #6 10/25/12, 07:05 PM

It's my understanding that winter blend diesel is made by adding #1 fuel oil (kerosene) to #2 fuel oil (diesel). That reduces the gel point. There's also several additives sold at truck stops like Howes that are guaranteed to stop diesel from gelling.

unregistered65598 · #7 10/25/12, 07:13 PM

Thanks Darren, DH says they would make #1 from #2 by adding some sort of chemical that was thick like molassis.

Darren · #8 10/25/12, 08:35 PM

That's not how a refinery works. The #1 and #2 fuel oils come off separately. He might be thinking of a cold flow improver. The problem is those don't work with biodiesel based on a fast internet look see. Here's a power point presentation with the info. Its also has a good chart showing the gel points of various oils from low to high.

If you can't access the power point presentation do a google search for "cold flow improvement additives". As long as he uses a heated tank for the used oil, I don't think he'll need anything else. Have him check the greasecar website. He'll also need to heat the final filter before the engine. It's a lot simpler than doing the biodiesel.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...Io8D9A&cad=rja

Jim-mi · #9 10/25/12, 08:46 PM

Good centrifuges are not cheap . . . . You need that to clean that WVO.........

We dilute / blend the oil with a small amount of off road diesel, and a very small amount of regular gas, and a ce-tain booster ( 911)
As much as anything the reg gas acts to make the viscosity better

Our blend does not require a seperate tank and heater.
On very cold -10 F temp days I just let the engine take a little more time to warm up . . . . . . .but that is the way any engine should be treated.........

Jim-mi · #10 10/25/12, 09:53 PM

I went to a Bio Diesel workshop at a local college.

The instructor went on and on about the dangers of handling methanol .......
In the classroom he handled the methanol in a exhaust hood (chem lab)
Then of course the handling of the lye . . . and how difficult it now is to get.

I left that class quite discouraged about bio diesel.

In my area I can buy bio diesel, . .but it is only 5%

||Downhome|| · #11 10/25/12, 10:35 PM

not just Lye but also Methanol.

If you remove all the triglycerides the "gel point" isn't a Issue.

unioncreek · #12 10/26/12, 11:41 AM

Methanol is nothing to mess with if you don't understand what your doing. I run a mix of WVO/diesel/gas in my Dodge. I usually don't run it during the winter unless I'm taking a long trip and the truck will be running for 10 hours or so. During the summer I mix 1 quart of gas per 5 gallons of WVO and run a max of about 30% if just driving short distances. On long runs I will mix it 50/50.

Bob

unregistered65598 · #13 10/26/12, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren

That's not how a refinery works. The #1 and #2 fuel oils come off separately. He might be thinking of a cold flow improver. The problem is those don't work with biodiesel based on a fast internet look see. Here's a power point presentation with the info. Its also has a good chart showing the gel points of various oils from low to high.

If you can't access the power point presentation do a google search for "cold flow improvement additives". As long as he uses a heated tank for the used oil, I don't think he'll need anything else. Have him check the greasecar website. He'll also need to heat the final filter before the engine. It's a lot simpler than doing the biodiesel.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...Io8D9A&cad=rja

Thanks Darren, thats what he was thinking of, it's been 25 or more yrs since he worked at the refiery. We will look more into the cold flow and the way it works. He didn't mean they made #1 from #2 I misunderstood him. He said they would add something to #2 to make it usable like #1.