# biodeisel plant



## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Has anyone set up a bio deisel plant? Id love pics and info


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I built and appleseed but never used it. I took a class by GirlMark on the infopop forum and I was planning to make my own start up/shut down fuel, but I ended up moving, fuel prices came down and I got banged up in a car crash so I never even used it. I just run it straight. 

Go over to the infopop site if you haven't been there yet. They're the pro's at it.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I've dabbled a bit and have found that it is better (for me) to modify the vehicle and run WVO than it is to alter the WVO into a standard fuel. For one thing, the vehicle is something to take with you in a bug-out situation, whereas a refinery isn't all that portable.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

I have to agree with the above posters,it costs about the same to build a plant as it does to modify a vechile to run on straight WVO, and you only have to modify it once, you have to buy methanol and lye for every batch of bio diesel.
The media jumped on bio diesel cause the process looks all fancy and complicated instead of simple like warm it and burn it.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Ummmm... what is WVO exactly? Your talkin to a girl here guys


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## Pkupmn98 (Jul 24, 2010)

Waste vegetable oil. Just an educated guess


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

I also built an "appleseed" biodiesel plant, but NO ONE AT ALL has any fryer grease available!! In fact, every now and then I read of someone getting arrested for stealing fryer grease.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

@centralten,Yes WVO is waste vegitable oil. 
@ LinkTex, from what I have learned the main reason for not being able to get free or cheap WVO is the lack of reliability and the mess made by earlier collectors, and of course the everpresent liability issue , cause there are far too many lawyers on this planet.:gaah:


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

There are no less than five grease buyers in the area, and they are big operations. They supply the drums for restaurants to fill, and come and pick them up when full. This makes it particularly tough, since the containers the grease is put into is no longer owned by the eating establishment! Once it is in the drum, it is owned by the grease company.

They have competely pushed the WVO biodiesel operators out of business. The only way to get used fry oil is to offer a lot more money than the grease collection companies.


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

LincTex said:


> There are no less than five grease buyers in the area, and they are big operations. They supply the drums for restaurants to fill, and come and pick them up when full. This makes it particularly tough, since the containers the grease is put into is no longer owned by the eating establishment! Once it is in the drum, it is owned by the grease company.
> 
> They have competely pushed the WVO biodiesel operators out of business. The only way to get used fry oil is to offer a lot more money than the grease collection companies.


Gotta say I kinda thought it was a no go in the beginning. Anytime something too good to be true happens someone says, hmmm, I can make money on this deal. 20 years ago they had to pay someone to pick the stuff up. Figured as soon as they knew what was happening with it, prices and availability would go away.

35 yrs ago in MEN had an article on it. Looked good then anyway. I like the wood gasifacation better. been thinking about looking back in my old issues and build one for the retreat to run the genset....got LOTS of wood...:sssh:

Jimmy


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

There's plenty of grease still out there. Ask around with friend, somebody knows somebody who can get you an "in" somewhere. Also ask at the places where you normally eat and explain what you want to do. They may leave you a few gallons a week on the side. Small mom and pop places might be easier. Some areas of the country are harder to get started than others, but when you get a source keep them happy and use them as a reference to get your next place. Some guys who can't get wvo use wmo waste motor/transmition oil.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

nj_m715 said:


> Some guys who can't get wvo use wmo waste motor/transmition oil.


WMO definitely has to be chemically processed before using tho, unlike WVO which only has to be mechanically filtered & used in a converted engine.

just putting that out there so nobody tries it raw & mucks up the engine


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

The_Blob said:


> WMO definitely has to be chemically processed before using tho, unlike WVO


Cummins allows up to 10% WMO with no changes. For a long time, they even offered a kit.

I usually run somewhere between 10% and 20% WMO mixed with diesel in my Cummins. Anything more than 20% and it starts to smoke and is hard to start. That is because my engine is direct injected... indirect engines can run higher percentages. My little 2-cylinder Yanmar tractor will run 50/50 with NO issues at all. No smoke, no nothing.

The older Detroit 2-stokes (3-53, 4-53, 2-71, 6-71, etc. ) can run 100% used motor oil.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I've never heard of an chem processing for it. What do you recommend? Only problems I've heard of were some guys getting ash residue from wmo in heaters and engines. 

I have burned what I get from my own oil changes. I just filter it to remove solid particles and mix it in. I've gone up to 50/50, but only one tank of blended fuel every couple months. 

jumping into running waste oil is like jumping into the stock market. There's money to be made/saved, but you need to do your homework first or you can get hurt.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Used oil does get somewhat acidic over time - I have smelled some batches that were very "sour" smelling. Supposedly, this is due to water (from condensation and combustion) mixing with naturally occurring sulphur compunds in the oil, making sulphuric acid ..... or something similar. I do not know of a way (offhand) to easily reduce this acidity. 

I also don't know to what degree a person really needs to worry about it.


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