I spent much of yesterday at a Bluegrass Festival in a small town park in eastern Washington. While there I struck up a conversation with a USDA/Washington State University plant pathologist who is specializing in oil seed crops for biodiesel production. He has a colleague at another local university who drives around with a complete biodiesel production plant in the back of his pickup teaching people how to produce their own fuel from seed crusher to fuel tank. The most expensive component is the crusher ($1,500) but canola seed is real cheap, around 7 cents a pound. Besides the biodiesel the glycol and seed mash are also marketable. So, perhaps I will be thinking of this a little more in the future. He does want me to participate in a study group to try and get some financial support to build a special pilot plant in the area to test some new production possibilities.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

Cool . . .

I've thought of distilling waste veggie oil which you can of course get for free. I'm a little concerned about the storage of the methanol and sodioum hydroxide. And, even though glycerin has value, where would I sell it? Plus it seems like a pain in the booty:

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_mike.html

However, as the price of petroleum increases, it might be worth the effort.

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2006 CRD Limited Dk Khaki
InMotion S-II, GDE TCM, Cummins Lift Pump, Mishimoto CAC hoses
Cooper Discoverer ATP LT245/75, Rola roof basket, JCR S3 sliders
OME lift+JBA UCA's, custom front hitch receiver, Mile Marker winch
All J Products rear cargo shelf
Sips biodiesel as if it were 12 y/o Scotch

Do these guys have an internet site? I live in Phoenix but would be willing to make a trip to WA to learn how to make BioD from seed.

He indicated that you could use methanol or ethanol.

Don't believe they have a web site as they are professors and federal govenment researchers. I am on their email list though so if one pops up I will add it here. Mostly they are working with farmers to convince them to do a little home production to reduce their production costs.

There needs to be a price support to make the production financially practicalfor farmers and there is none. Right now oil grade canola sells for about 7 cents a pound but he said it needed to be around 15 cents to make it practical. I am not aware of the number of pounds it takes to get a gallon of biodiesel. Since I raise cattle the feed would be an added benefit.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

You might have trouble getting enough waste grease/oil for free to make a difference. Since commercial bio production on the increase nationwide, many of the fast food places and restaurants are SELLING their waste oil to outfits that in turn sell it to the producers. Talk to a few local fast food places and see if that is not the case. It will be cheaper than new oil but you will still pay for it more likely.

If you want a good quality oil for your own bio production, get the NON FOOD Grade oils. The food grades are twice the price of a gallon of fuel. The non food grades are pretty reasonable. They only problem may be in the amount you have to purchase. It is a bulk item. Even then, you will be in competition with commercial bio producers.

Regarding Methanol vs. Ethanol for bio production. It is common that Ethanol will cause a higher amount of glycerin in production. This seems to be because Ethanol attracts water more than Methanol. This info was provided by an outfit that sells bio production products. I have no personal experience.

When you look at all the variables, personal bio production may not be that feasible. Besides, if your state gets wind that you are producing for road use, and you do not pay the appropriate Fed and State taxes per gallon, you will be in a lot of hot water. The current fine in Iowa is $5K.

Give it a go, if the numbers work right. I don't want to stop anyone from doing these things. I would like to do them myself. I don't use enough to justify the startup and operation costs.

Yeah . . . Forgot about the Federales.

There's a yellow grease processing plant going in at Tuscon. It makes more sense to recycle collectively than individually given econmies of scale and a plant's ability to easily sell waste products. However, I do have a free source of used canola--probably about 40 gallons a month. It would be cool if I could use it.

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2006 CRD Limited Dk Khaki
InMotion S-II, GDE TCM, Cummins Lift Pump, Mishimoto CAC hoses
Cooper Discoverer ATP LT245/75, Rola roof basket, JCR S3 sliders
OME lift+JBA UCA's, custom front hitch receiver, Mile Marker winch
All J Products rear cargo shelf
Sips biodiesel as if it were 12 y/o Scotch

Depends on the state...Here in Texas you can produce 400 gallons a quarter with no reporting...1200 gallons a year.

I have started a BioDiesel type Co-Op with 7 members. We are going to split all costs and work...should work fine and will not be a large initial investment. We already have sources for WVO...

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Founder of L.O.S.T.
2006 CRD Sport
Mods: GDE Hot Tune w/ 364#@2000rpm/Air Box /3" Str8 Exhaust/ASFIR Alum Skids/245-75R-16 Cooper STT PRO/OME LIFT w/Clevis & 4 Spring Isos/AirTabs/Rigid 10" S2 LED/4xGuard Ctr Matrix Bumper
Drag Strip:Reac=.1078_60ft=2.224_1/8=10.39@64.8mph_1/4+16.46@80.8mph

Before you try to make biodiesel yourself as a viable fuel source, you owe it to yourself to spend some time with someone who is already doing it. It is nontrivial, even if you CAN secure a source of oil.

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George Reiswig
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
Suncoast, SEGR, lift, InMotion tune, homebrew B100
At 138k, new head & gasket, timing belt, rockers and swearing vocabulary

The reason I would consider home biodiesel production is that my only source of local biodiesel is B20, it is 10 miles out of the way, it is at a commercial bulk oil dealer so the pumps are only available during week day working hours, and the place is not well maintained like a regular retail lot (basically a messy place to fill). While I only farm on a small scale I am trying to interest our renter and other neighbors to get back into more oil seed production. Right now though the value of the seed is too low to justify production.

Of course the other reasons would be two other farm diesels sitting around that could use it too. Like Darby I think the idea of a co-op would be practical and I believe the road tax rules in Washington also encourage some home production. The feds don't enforce the road tax laws on a local level, the state does and a dye test wouldn't work anyhow as it is an additive to off road diesel.

With respect to fryer oil, it has a lower cloud point and while a good source, generally requires a combination of filtering and dual tank operation with a pre-heater. You generally get started on dino then swich to fryer oil after running, at least that is how it is working here. The projections I am seeing is that your cost per gallon would currently run around 74 cents for fryer oil processing.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

Just a little info:

We will be using the Appleseed Type Processor...and Wash Tank...

We will be pre-heating/drying the WVO in a Solar Box...trying to use as little "energy" as possible...smaller carbon footprint...

We have a buyer for our waste Glycerine/Soap byproduct...

We are going to be very careful/dilligent when it comes to producing a high quality BioDiesel...

Safety is also going to be "Top Priority"...

Afer construction of the processor...the Methanol will be the biggest cost factor per gallon produced...

And most of all...Enjoy the Benefits/Savings/Group Dynamics

_________________
Founder of L.O.S.T.
2006 CRD Sport
Mods: GDE Hot Tune w/ 364#@2000rpm/Air Box /3" Str8 Exhaust/ASFIR Alum Skids/245-75R-16 Cooper STT PRO/OME LIFT w/Clevis & 4 Spring Isos/AirTabs/Rigid 10" S2 LED/4xGuard Ctr Matrix Bumper
Drag Strip:Reac=.1078_60ft=2.224_1/8=10.39@64.8mph_1/4+16.46@80.8mph

I hope you'll be taking lots of pictures and letting us all know how you put it all together. I'm interested in doing this in the near future and I'm sure there are others here too. Good luck

You should look into methanol recovery from your glycerol byproduct. The St Louis Biofuels Club is doing quite a bit of research into methanol recovery through distillation, and it will almost eliminate new methanol input into the process (100% recovery will never be possible). Subscribe to the biodieselstl Yahoo group for more info (the methanol recovery working group is invite only). Lots of other awesome info in the group as well. We're working on setting up a Wiki, but the info's not there yet.

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2006 Liberty Sport CRD

I still cat believe the everyone isn't doing this yet... I made a post a few weeks ago and posted about the same thing... I'm down to $.43 per gal and getting 32mpg on the road. the meth, is not a big deal to store at all. its in a 55 gal STEEL drum... and the Lye.. You have to keep it DRY, thus, its in an airtight bucket anyway...so there is no harm... I have seen more people just toss 50lbs of swimming pool stuff around like it was harmless. Point is, Meth and Lye will be fine sitting in a low traffic spot.

Folks... MickyD's has Oil, Burger king, white cas, windys, I could go on and on and on... there is more than enough Oil for free. the questions is this:

do you want to keep paying $3.00+ a gal, or spend 2 hours a week + 4 hours a weekend to make over 200gal of fuel at $.43 a gal....

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05 CRD
3" Rough Country Lift
SAMCO SPORT Hoses
Magnaflow Muffler (12226)
CAT 2 Fuel Filter
Fumoto Drain Valve
EGR replaced at 50K
in service 8/31/04
Sold 7/21/10 125k miles
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Paved Roads, another form of unnecessary government spending...

Not to disagree too much, but...

1. The oil at McDicks, etc. leaves a lot to be desired: high FFA content, and often it is hydrogenated oil or lard. So you have to be aware of the effects on processing and on the pour point of the final product. If it works for you, great!

2. To effectively source waste oil, you need to have a contract with a restaurant or two (or three) wherein you are the sole place for them to dispose of their oil. That means you go get the oil every week or two, depending on the capacity of your collection vessel on site and that in your trailer. If you miss a collection and things overflow, the restaurant won't be happy.

3. 200 gallons at a time? Wow! That's beyond the scope of many people to do. That would require some pretty special equipment, not just a water heater. 50 gallons at a time is not unreasonable.

4. Even without the danger of the chemicals, things are still very messy. Everything smells like chicken, the oil gets on the floor, shoes, clothing...

I say again, it ain't trivial. It's great, and I think that it is a good way for some people to fuel their vehicles. But I also think it would be misleading to let people who haven't seen it done believe that there's nothing to it.

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George Reiswig
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD
Suncoast, SEGR, lift, InMotion tune, homebrew B100
At 138k, new head & gasket, timing belt, rockers and swearing vocabulary

Chris, I take exception to the notion that it will "almost eliminate new methanol input." Assuming you use the common 20% by volume ratio of methanol to oil, the ONLY way you can do that is if none of that alcohol is actually making FAMEs. Depending upon the source oil, around 40%-50% of the alcohol should react with the oil. If you succeed in getting almost all your methanol back, you will NOT have useable biodiesel.

If you add in the likely losses of the distillation/recovery process, you are going to be doing a great job of recovery to get back as much as half the alcohol.

Check this thing out - an all in one automated biodiesel maker for the super low price of only $7995 . Any comments?

http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/biopro190.php

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'05 CRD Sport born on 06/20/05, bought on 9/23/05, L.O.S.T. on 9/27/05 - modding ever since:

Daystar 2.0" Lift, P255/70R16 Revos, Boulder Bars, Reese Front Hitch w/9k Hooks, Poison Spyder Rock Ring, MOPAR Skids/Bug Shield/Roof Rails/Mats, WARN Hitch Shackle(Rear), 10k Hitch Hook(Front), Custom Tilt/Slope Meter, Ammo Box Mod, Rotella T 5W-40.

One thing that has always puzzled me about biodiesel math: $0.43/gal to produce??? Commercial brewers should be even more cost efficient from basic economies of scale and can take advantage of the $1.00/gal blending credit ($-0.57 net production cost???). Even adding in some taxes, it would net them to about nothing to produce. Local oil suppliers are selling B100 for @ $3.50/gal retail. With margins that great, investors should be stumbling over each other to get on this gravy train.

So, If you make biodiesel from WVO you got from White Castle, does it make your CRD scoot?

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2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Lt Khaki, sunroof

Thankful to now be an EX-CRD owner.

Some would make a distinction between burning grease and biodieseland White Castle, et al, apparently is not as rich a source as oriental establishments. I guess that would mean you were putting a tiger in your tank.

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights

I will admit that I don't have firsthand experience with methanol recovery yet. I was just passing on what I have overheard from some of those that are doing it. In researching a bit further, one particular person that is early in the game of recovery is at 25% recovery so far from glycerol only. There is probably additional methanol to be recovered in discarded wash water, and some testing shows between 2-4% unreacted methanol still in washed biodiesel. Regardless, from a cost-effectiveness and safe-waste-management standpoint, methanol recovery is a "good thing to do".

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2006 Liberty Sport CRD

Just one comment: "Its your money."

It probably works just fine, but it sure ain't cheap. Utah Biodiesel Supply has a fine reputation, and they probably wouldn't sell it if it wasn't on the up-and-up. If you went in with some others like a Co-Op, and processed lots of gallons weekly, it would probably pay off.

Just be sure to steer clear of the "FuelMeister". Its a piece of crap that produces junk fuel and is a danger to life and limb.

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2006 Liberty Sport CRD