WVO conversion to Biodiesel
 

Hey guys. I was wondering if anyone on here makes their own or knows anyone who makes biodiesel from waste vegetable oil and if so what kind of system they use, how much trouble it is to make, where they get your WVO, and anything else they may know or have learned since they started making it. I'm not really interested in running straight WVO. Thanks.

Get Girl Mark's book. She describes and illustrates a couple of systems, and explains the complete process.

You really should look into deep and see which will save you more money.

Bio is better if you're running multiple vehicles on it. I ended up going the WVO route myself, it just made more sense. It was more money up front, but in the long run I'll save a lot more. I've also been renting housing the last 5 or so years, so it was not feasible for me to keep caustic chemicals at houses that I am renting. My current landlord even had me clarify what exactly I was doing in the garage, she said she didn't want me making bio, but was OK with me just filtering veggie.

I also steered away from bio because of the climate I live in... I can run WVO all year round in my vegistroke (and bio for that matter). The whole idea of having a secondary fuel system is pretty nice too, if one fails, I have a back up. Another key thing for me was I can be slightly less concerned with the oil I burn. With Bio you'll need to be especially picky with oil, if the PH is too high, you end up using a LOT more chemicals, and it could get to the point it's not worth doing. You also can't use PHO oil either (partially hydrogenated), however, I have no problem burning it in a heated system.

It boils down to this:

Bio, you mod the fuel for the truck
WVO, you mod the truck for the fuel.

At the end of the day calculating costs and setup, time involved, etc... WVO made more sense for me. However, one method does not work for everyone, so bio may be better for you. There are several good sites for info on making bio and filtering etc.

I know frybrid.com has some good info (despite being aimed more at WVO conversions, there's still a ton of good info.)

thanks guys. I have two pickups and 4 tractors so the WVO route wouldn't benefit me much. I'd like to be able to make enough to do my daily driving and be able to put 15-20 gallons up each week to run in my tractors.

First step is to try and secure some locations for collection and figure out how you're going to get it from the restaurant to your house. Then you're going to want to construct a filtration setup. I'd start researching a few different filtration setups and how you're going to set that up and wash the oil too. Then try and figure out where to get the chemicals from and start making some. It will take some practice/time to perfect, but no time like the present!

I know a few people that own restaurants and stores so i'll have access to a little bit at first. After i get goin with it i may try and find more oil to use but for now i'm just interested in making some for test purposes.

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i've been looking and i cant find a good link to Girl Marks book. they are all either old or aren't a link where you can buy it. they're just reviews or info on the book. does anyone have a good link for where i can buy it?

The best filtering is letting the oil sit and settle in a black 55 gallon drum set in the sun then using a "u" bent suction pipe to pull the oil out above the settled mess at the bottom. I use an old water heater and a vacuum pump to draw the settled oil out.

I made a reactor out of a pressure tank cleaned out and flipped upside down so the bottom is domed to drain completely. This way I can also use the vacuum pumps I have to make sure there is no water in the oil.

Utah Bio diesel supply has some good videos on how to titrate the oil, mix methoxide and perform the reaction.

Trying to filter the oil can be very time consuming, I used to do it the hard way now I just let it settle. For the reaction anything smaller than about 20 um isn't going to bother it.

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What catalyst are you going to use because NOH and KOH produce different soaps. KOH is more fluid from what I have read. I use NOH and it can be very thick I have found a 5% prewash makes it much easier to drain.

I'm not sure yet. I want to talk to some people that already make it and see how i is done first.whichever makes better fuel will probably be the one i use though

Fuel is the same, but the waste acts a bit different. I think most people who water wash use KOH because it is more forgiving in not emulsifying. There are some good forums just for both WVO and bio diesel. here is one http://www.biofuelsforum.com/

here are some tutorial vids http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/tutorialvideos.php Some are a sale pitch but there is a lot of good info too.

Thanks man.

VERY USEFUL!
 

This is a link for an episode of Trucks on Spike! Very useful info!

I made a test batch of bio using a 5 gallon metal pail and an $8 water heating element (1500 watt) from lowes. My first 16 liter batch I dropped the heating element into the oil(oil does not conduct electricity) and brought the temp up to 160F. Then removed the element and set the 5 gallon bucket on my drill press table, set the drill press to the lowest speed and used a paint bucket stirrer to stir the oil. In a one gallon container I added 200ml of meth for each liter of oil and after testing the oil I added something like 4 grams of koa per liter. Once mixed- this produces a lot of heat and be careful of the fumes. I slowely added the meth mix to the wvo which produced even more heat while the wvo was stiring. After adding the meth I stired it for 30 mins then let it settle over night. Next day I poured off the bio diesel from the glyserion, mix the bio with 1/3 the amout of water and stirred it for 30 minutes. It was completly seperated in 30 minutes so I washed the bio 2 more time or untill the wash water was clear. My setup now is an open 55 gallon drum and a big dewalt drill. A good place for info is journey to forever.org. I follow their directions and for a starter kit look at duda diesel.com. The two most important things I learned from making bio is: wear gloved and DO NOT expose yourself to the KOA,METH, and the fumes. The second is tritrate your wvo 3 times to get and accurate ph. Very accurate measurements are the key in making bio. Hope this helps. I can post some pics of my test setup if it will help.

Do you test your PH levels of your oil before you even start?

ya, I got really good oil. I think I had to add only one gram of KOH per liter of WVO in addition to the 5.5 grams used to lower the ph of unused oil. My last 14 liter batch was 2.8 liter of meth and 112 grams of KOH. Slightly higher level of PH but I have been reading about glycerine washing and I'm going to give it a try when my bigger processer is complete. Hopefully Ill do a 30 gallon batch this weekend.

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yes, you have to. the amout of KOH you need to add is the base amout per liter(this depends on how pure your KOH is) added to the additional amount you have tested your oil for.
Since we know the ph of NEW oil. We take at amount (say 5.5grams) and add it to the results you get by runing a tritration test.

Sounds good! I know some guys that get WVO they can't even use for bio because the PH level is so high, it just costs so much in chemicals to get it where it needs to be it's almost not even worth it. I quickly snatch it up from them haha.

I was also reading about high PH levels in WVO. I saw an article that said something about using the glycerin from a prior batch of bio to lower the PH. If I find the link I'll post it here. Anyone else heard about this method of lower the PH?

I have never heard of that, but I have heard of an acid method for really high ph readings. Since the bio making process is an equlibrium I would think it would lower the yield unless maybe using an 80/20 method. This wouldn't work if you use a 5% pre wash.
Personally I have made bio from high ph oil and it yeilds less and produces more soap, just a regular pain in the butt.