I like shooting video of my projects. I made two 3.5 gallon batches of biodiesel with some WVO I got from my father in-law. It was left over from having cooked a turkey each thanksgiving for the past few years. It was barely used and exceptionally well settled oil.
I guess this forum doesn't support the [youtube] BBCode tags, so I'll just link to the videos..
The first one is just a minute of me vigorously shaking the oil after adding the methoxide to it. It's in a 4 gallon food bucket, and I shook it like this for 5 minutes, alternating between the techniques seen here in the last minute of my mixing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoqCs2g1OXQ
I did that in two different buckets, 3.5 gallons of oil in each. After it was done, I poured the oil off the top of the glycerin into a 6 gallon bucket, and gently poured 2 gallons of hot water through the oil for a pre-wash. I did that twice, much more aggressively the second time, draining the water off the bottom after about an hour each time. After the second wash I poured the oil into a 30 gallon drum.
I ended up with about 6 gallons or so in the drum, hard to tell exactly how much was in there though. This time I poured about 4 gallons of hot water through the oil into the bottom of the drum, and stuck an aquarium bubbler stone in the water, and ran that for 24 hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasToy4kHJU
After 24 hours, I turned the bubbler off, and let it just rest for 10 hours (overnight). Then I installed a drain in the bottom of the barrel (should have done before starting, but didn't..). I felt I had done a pretty good job with my two washes, but had barely gotten any soap out of the oil in those washes. I assumed there just wasn't much soap in the oil this time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS4iYsjmZOQ
I was just absolutely astounded with how much soap came out. That bubble wash technique is just amazingly good! It looks like someone boiled the water with a large bar of soap in it until the soap had totally disolved. Makes me wonder if I could just boil this back down into if not a bar of soap, at least some pretty decent liquid soap. I decided to do at least another wash for 24 hours. If the water comes out clear, I'll know that the first bubble wash had done an awesome job. If it doesn't, well I'll probably do another wash after this one. I'm in no rush really, I don't have any more WVO so I can put this fuel into my car whenever it's actually ready.
Anyways, I've been having a great time making my first larger scale batch of biodiesel (and making the stuff in general). I'm hoping I can find a decent source of WVO, I only need about 12 gallons per week to cover my commute, and that'd be at near 100%. I bought 5 gallons of methanol off a local biodiesel guy. I paid $8/gallon from him, which is about the going rate for methanol in 5 gallon quantities.. Looks like I can get it down to about $4.50/gallon if I buy a 55gallon drum.. But I'm definitely not doing that until I have a steady stream of WVO coming in. This 5 gallons will get me through something like 25 gallons of oil.
Couple of videos
Moderator: Fatmobile
Couple of videos
'81 Diesel Rabbit
'88 Dodge Omni
'88 Dodge Omni
Re: Couple of videos
One more video, of the finished product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EHttFqWOZg
The car is loving it, at something near at 60% mix. Noticeable power boost (less downshifting, when I do downshift, it pulls with less throttle), seems a bit quieter and smoother as well. It's a shame I don't have access to more oil for the time being. I saved the last gallon in old 1qt oil jugs, I'll add a quart to each tank in the future, probably starting 4 tanks of fuel down the road, as a fuel additive for extra engine lubrication.
Maybe I'll have found more oil by then. ![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EHttFqWOZg
The car is loving it, at something near at 60% mix. Noticeable power boost (less downshifting, when I do downshift, it pulls with less throttle), seems a bit quieter and smoother as well. It's a shame I don't have access to more oil for the time being. I saved the last gallon in old 1qt oil jugs, I'll add a quart to each tank in the future, probably starting 4 tanks of fuel down the road, as a fuel additive for extra engine lubrication.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
'81 Diesel Rabbit
'88 Dodge Omni
'88 Dodge Omni