Graham Laming’s design for a “waterless-washing” biodiesel processor which recaptures a large amount of methanol, saving money and the environment

Since my last post on the merits of biodiesel, I’ve been able to gather more information and I wanted to pass it on to you.  What continues to intrigue me about home brewing biodiesel is that it is emblematic of the type of lifestyle changes we all need to take on in the 21st century.  Taking waste frier oil and converting it, at home into a cleaner burning, less toxic and more biodegradable fuel is something akin to modern day alchemy.

First, a disclaimer:  I am not a home brewer, just an interested by-stander.  I cannot, and do not warrant any of the  designs exhibited for performance nor safety.  There are a number of excellent books available on the subject for anyone looking to tackle their own setup.  As with all things, safety first!

I’ve taken a lot of instruction from user Jerry (Airthug) at biodieselpictures.com, sponsored by the excellent source of biodiesel brewing equipment, Utah Biodiesel Supply.  

The Basic Process

1. Heat the oil to remove any water content. (95-120 degrees F)
2. Pre-filter waste vegetable oil to ensure that it is free of debris and food particles.
3. Perform a “titration.”  – this step seems complex at first, but it’s really not too bad and only takes about half a minute.  The purpose of titration is to determine the amount of FFA (Free Fatty Acid) in the waste oil.  This is necessary because lye (sodium hydroxide) is required to make the oil and the methanol react, but FFAs will “use up” some of the lye as the lye and FFA combine to make soap.  Titration, then, is used to determine the amount of extra lye that needs to be added so that there’s enough left over for the Transesterfication reaction to take place.  Exhaustive instructions/methods for titration can be found here.
4. Measure the proper amount of catalyst (lye) and combine with the methanol, heat and stir.
5. Heat oil, mix in lye and methanol circulate for about an hour, then pump to wash tank. 
6. Once the reacted mix has settled for 12-48 hours, drain off glycerine.
7. Wash bio by pumping in warm (90-120F) water through an aerator and draining excess wash water from the bottom of the tank.  The oil should also be warm (85-95F) so that everything flows freely.  Pause to bubble (with a submerged aerator) for about an hour half way through the wash.  Wash until water drawn off is no longer cloudy.
8. Perform a PH test on your wash water, and bring back to a neutral PH of 7 by adding calculated amount of vinegar prior to disposing in sewer.  Don’t water plants with this water as it’s still dirty.  Once PH neutral, a water treatment plant can easily deal with the wash water.
9. Dry the bio by heating it to 150 degrees F and pumping via recirculating pump through aerator head to maximize surface area.
10. Once rested, draw off a sample and test for water content.  500 Parts Per Million is the most water allowed in finished biodiesel by ASTM spec.

It should be mentioned that there are many approaches to cleaning the biodiesel, and the water wash outlined above is not the only way to go.  Other methods exist that can clean impurities without the need for any water.

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Many cities and municipalities offer Christmas tree recycling that can transform that little big of Christmas past into useful, earth-friendly mulch.  My extend family will all be taking their live trees to the Adams County Regional Park & Fairgrounds when they’re done with them, anytime between December 26 and January 11.  They’ll take up to 2 trees per family, so do a good deed, save some fuel, and offer to take your neighbor’s too.

You’ll need to remove all ornaments, tinsel, garlands, flocking, and nails before dropping them off, and you’ll need to get there during daylight hours as they operate only from dawn till dusk.  It’s a little something we can all do to make the planet we all share a little better.

If you’re elsewhere in Colorado you can find a tree recycling site in your area here thanks to good people at Colorado Recycles.

The NICEST biodiesel home brew facility I've seen.

Biodiesel is produced through a process called “Transesterfication,” in which fats such as restaurant greases, animal fats, vegetable oils, and even oil from algae are reacted with an alcohol, such as ethanol or methanol.  This reaction causes the liquid to separate into glycerin (about 10 percent of the starting volume) and biodiesel (about 90 percent of the starting volume).  The glycerin can be used to make soap, and the biodiesel can be blended with petroleum diesel and used in any compression-ignition (diesel) engine. The most common of these blends in the United States is “B20″ which is an 80-20 biodiesel-petroleum diesel blend.

With modification, engines can burn 100 percent biodiesel, known as “B100.”  These modifications are sometimes, but not always necessary to avoid maintenance and performance problems.

A shower head for "drying" (de-watering) the biodiesel

What’s more, this is not a “new” or “emerging” technology, but actually has its roots in the 1930s, when Henry Ford and George Washington Carver worked together to develop alternative energies.  They wanted to apply agricultural products to the growing industrial markets such as plastic and rubber.  Carver and Ford saw that petroleum depletion was inevitable, and they saw great potential for crops like soy to provide an alternative to petroleum.  In fact, Dr. Rudolph Diesel, the German scientist who invented the compression-ignition (aka diesel) engine, ran his very first engine on peanut oil.

In January 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched a program providing cost incentives for the production of 36 million gallons of biodiesel.  Since then, more than a dozen states have passed favorable biodiesel legislation, and a bill that would set a renewable standard for fuel in the United States, and another that would give biodiesel a partial fuel excise tax exemption were introduces to the U.S. Congress in 2003.

Today, biodiesel been tested well in excess of 50 million miles in every type of diesel engine. There are over 500 commercial fleets in the United States that currently operate on various blends of biodiesel, including all four major branches of the military, the federal government, and multiple municipal fleets.

Some Biodiesel Facts:

Aaron has been kind enough to allow us this post. Take a look and share.