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Author Topic: BIODIESEL  (Read 7875 times)

Offline BMAC

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BIODIESEL
« on: January 11, 2008, 01:47:08 pm »
i was just wondering how mnay of you make your own biodiesel for our diesel vehicles/tractors....

In another month of two I am finally going to buy my biodiesel processor.  Home job, not commercial....
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Offline Mici

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2008, 02:04:23 pm »
you're probably aiming at...recycling waste oils.
i was very much into it, but...well i have quite a few limitations. if my father would be more interested in it, we'd probably do it, but on my own, I'm not all that handy, yet. buying an already assembled processor is not optional here either. one of the reasons my dad is not all that into it is, we get subsidies for diesel fuel per hectare (varies), basically we get the tax payed for the fuel back. also, he's very sceptical about putting it into our JTD diesel engines of our cars. the usage of tractors is not all that big so...
also, it's hard to get large quantities of waste vegetable oil, nor any other.

the sole idea is great however.

Offline BMAC

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2008, 02:15:22 pm »
That is interesting MICI.  I am glad you gave us a little insight of your country. 

Us american **pigs** (not seriously) are very retail driven.

There is enough poor eating habits in this country to fuel most of the diesels here.  You could probably tell that already though considering I will be buying a processor or that they are even marketing the processors for biodiesel.  In fact I didn't even have to look far for oil.  A Bar and Grill just about 1Km from my house goes thru 10 gallons every week. 

I will use more than that, but its a good start.
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Offline Mici

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2008, 05:08:40 pm »
10 gal a week, huh, that'd be almost enough to tank our 3 JTD's :-D

but don't worry, huge amounts of oil is used in food industry around here as well, but if you have say a restaurant, they track how much oil you buy, and approx the same amount must be hauled by certified buyer (in our case, i think it's the state oil distributor) who i think also incorporates this oils into the diesel we later buy in their gas stations. i mean, it's harsh but it makes sense, otherwise people would be pouring it god knows where.
that's why it's hard to get.
thought....now i found a forum where a few have posted their reactors so...
so, are you planing to tank your tractor or car?
how much is the reactor gonna cost you?

ummm, what are the prices for fuels in the US now, i know you had ridiciusly cheap gas, how much is it now, and how much for diesel?
we have...approx 1€/l give or take a few cents for both gasoline and diesel.

Offline randydrivesabus

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2008, 05:13:33 pm »
you pay about twice as much as we do. we're around $3/gal.

Offline BMAC

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2008, 05:26:04 pm »
Diesel is $3.39 US per US gallon.

The processor will cost about $3000 US.  The other consumables needed will make the fuel cost about $.80 per gallon for me to make it.

I plan to use it in my truck for now.  I will also look for other diesel equipment as I need it.  Such as forklift and etc......  I will probably also replace my cars with diesel mercedes or something of the sort.  Maybe VW.  Not sure yet.  The main part is to get the processor and produce my own fuel. 

Nobody here watches where the WVO goes.  In fact nobody monitors used engine oil in this country either unless a complaint for illegal dumping it reported to the EPA.  So I could convert that stuff for my home if I really wanted too.  I dont.  It burns too dirty......
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Offline pdmattox

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2008, 06:35:26 pm »
Great Idea. We all need to be a little more self sufficient wherever we can. I have been tossing the idea around of just buying and using bio fuel for the farm, but if  i could make it as well....
We could wear a head wrap and put "sheik" in front of our names. Could you pm me some info on the processor.

Offline asprince

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2008, 08:31:08 pm »
I have two diesel trucks that I have converted to  run on 100% used vegetable oil. I get my oil from local  restaurants, filter and burn. I spend about one hour per week collecting and filtering. I have about 15k on each truck running WVO. The exhaust smells like fried chicken. Hummmm that could explain why I have so many stray dogs take up at my house.

Has saved me lots of $$$$, Steve
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Offline reinbeau

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2008, 08:46:43 pm »
Be careful - you're not paying any fuel taxes, sooner or later the govmint will catch up with you.....it's happened to others.  :roll:

Offline kenpkr

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2008, 10:06:26 pm »
asprince, you say that you converted your engines to run on biodiesel.  What did that entail and how much did it cost?  My wife and I have kicked this idea around awhile and wonder if our next 2 cars could be easily and not too expensively converted to run on biodiesel.  And can you still use regular diesel fuel when the biodiesel is unavailable? 

Thanks,
Ken

Offline JP

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2008, 12:12:31 am »
I'm very much for the idea of biodiesel, but my truck is warrantied to 100,000 miles, perhaps I will convert then, but Ann raises a very good point about fuel taxes. For now I wait and paid $3.29g U.S. today to fill my truck up.

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Offline Mici

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2008, 07:14:48 am »
1. "diesel" engine ran on peanut oil, and the first "diesel" cars were ran on vegetable oil. so...any diesel will "eat" vegetable oil, there's no big conversion needed, the only difference is, vegetable oils burn hummm, cleaner and they will eat up natural gum, so you have to replace those tiny hoses with silicone ones, i think that's basicly all the conversion a car needs, also, the tank might be painted on the inside so it might be wise to at least check if it is.

reinbeau, the part about taxes, they have been payed, although not for the energy, but they take good care about vegetable oils being more expensive than diesel, or at least at the same price. i don't know how you have it in the US, but biodiesel is available around here, so they can't hold you on this, but the oil used for heating is the same as diesel, only that it's colored and it is at much lower price, so if you tank the heating oil...and get caught, you pay, a lot.


asprince, you probably know you're not doing any favour to your car do you? i mean, just filtering it isn't enough. although if the truck is a bit older and you're not "saving" it, hell why not, why complicate things.

Offline reinbeau

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2008, 07:51:07 am »
From this article (North Carolina):

Quote
But officials say they'll keep pursuing taxes on all fuels used in highway vehicles. With its 29.9-cent a gallon gas tax, the state collects $1.2 billion each year to pay for road construction.

"With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level."

There's no way many government officials are going to let a growing movement avoid paying their fuel taxes.  Only if there's special legislation, and it seems as though there is some movement in that direction, but expect government greed to stand in the way of most relief.  :roll:

Offline buzzbee

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2008, 08:00:41 am »
Reinbeau,
You are so right on the fuel tax issue. It will be easier to wean this nation off of foreign oil than it will be to reduce any tax this government thrives on.Heads up biodieselers,if there gets to be a large amount of you guys,Uncle Sam will be taxing your fuels!

Offline randydrivesabus

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2008, 08:01:26 am »
isn't most biodiesel used with regular diesel? like 30% bio and the rest petroleum?

Offline Mici

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #15 on: January 12, 2008, 08:35:37 am »
still, they can't track it. the only option they have left is like here. certify a few companies on depoing WVO, and these companies will, if smart enough clean the WVO and sell it as biodiesel, still at lower prices than regular diesel, with tax included.

randy, although much biodiesel is used mixed with regualr diesel it's nowhere near 30% biodiesel. i think EU is pressing to extend the ratio 5% bio and 95% regular on all gas stations. but i'm not sure.

Offline asprince

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #16 on: January 12, 2008, 09:45:58 am »
My conversion is for straight waste vegetable oil not biodiesel. The conversion and filtering is a little more detailed than changing a few hoses from rubber to silicone. Yes, it could be shortening the life of my trucks, but others before me have been doing it for far more miles with few or no problems. Maybe my engine will only last for 300k vs 400k. I chose to take the chance.
 
When the time comes..............29.9 cent per gallon tax vs $3.30 + at the pump....OK.

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Offline BMAC

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2008, 11:01:41 am »
diesel engines were built to run on Peanut oil originally.  No engine modification needs to be made, you just need to titrate your oil and mix in the appropriate amount of sodium hydroxide and methonol to break down the glycerides and neutralize any acidic value of the oil. 

Bang.  cheap fuel.

BTW.  I agree with the feds and taxation.  Dont tell them, just use some green dye and dye your fuel to look like the taxed fuel.......

That way at a quick glance it looks like diesel.  Of course it will not have the aroma. 

Another note on this is biodiesel jels at a higher temp than regular diesel so they recommend a 20% diesel 80% VWO in the winter months.
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Offline kenpkr

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2008, 11:13:59 am »
Can anyone tell me what books/websites they used to learn how to go about converting your car to run on biodiesel?  I'd like to find out if this is feasible for my 2 car, 150 mile per week lifestyle.  I'd like to know all the advantages and disadvatages involved before I take the plunge.  We don't currently own diesel cars but if this is practical then I would consider spending the extra money so that we could burn biodiesel long term. 


Offline Mici

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Re: BIODIESEL
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2008, 12:54:02 pm »
read this tread over and you'll find most of the answers.
as for aditional info, i hate to do this but, if i was to give you some aditional sites:
www.google.com  search: biodiesel ; make biodiesel; convert WVO to diesel .....
there are numerous sites with info, check the howstuffworks.com, also has  some good info.

with 150 miles per week, i'd say it's not worth the hassle, maybe, just barely...but if you're looking for a project...