Alrighty! Whos making AND using BD?

[mannytranny]

Lets start out by getting to know how much our fellow TDSers use and make BD!

Ive been tinkering for a good month now. I just use the single step method. It seems to work nicely. No heat other than sunlight. Temps maybe in the mid 70's.

I built a processor out of a 5g water jug. I tipped it upside down, and JB welded a valve in the bottom. It worked very well for one batch, then it cracked. I built a nice little stand for it too. The first batch turned out good. I scraped off a layer of soap from the top (because when the methanol evaporates, it tends to leave soap deposits on the top) And then when it had sat for a week, I washed it with a spray bottle. Let it sit another day, found it was very clear, and then I poured it in the Volvo.

But since then, I have ordered a new 15g coned bottom tank. HDPE #2. It should be here soon.

I have also got a source for oil. A mex place.

Anyway, enough rambling from me. Lets hear from everyone else!

[Ford_Forgotton]

Im not making or running YET!

But I am slowly building up the materials and supplies to start. Im not exactly set up for playing with chemicals being that I live in a college aptarment complex with nothing resembling a garage other than my race car trailer.

My plan is to stick to the Dr Pepper type method until I get home in a year, then onto the larger batches.

[Wapitibill]

I had a few gallons of methanol laying around since about 1980. With all of the talk about biodiesel, I decided to finally "take the plunge." About a month ago I asked for some oil at a restaurant that I frequent. For starters I got about a gallon of well-filterd but fishy smelling oil. Using a blender I quickly made up my first batch. Last Saturday I got 4 gallons with the promise that I could have as much as I wanted.

[TooMuchBoost]

What's the shelf life once Bio-D is made? I go through two or more tanks a week, so I would have to make it in bigger batches for it to work. Any idea? Would it be impractical to make 250 gallons at time if you had a place to store it and make it? I read somewhere where it needs to be made in HDPE does it need to be stored in it as well?

[Ford_Forgotton]

It only needs to be MADE is number 2 plastic. It can be stored in ANY diesel approved container. See my post on Enviro regs about storage and handling of the finished product.

Once its made, you treat it like diesel. Expect water and algae problems if stored in a wet environment without propper sealing storage vessel, just like #2.

[damodt]

If you're going through 300-400 gals a month at a cost of $600-800/month than I would supose you're making some good dough? Is it worth your time and space and potential hazards of ordering huge quanities of all this stuff and mixing it and then storing it, pouring it (and in my luck I'd have a fire caused by ??? on the other side of my property, fire and police would be quick to blame the "home brewed gas" and then the insurance company would drop me) and I can only imagine the rummors and talk around the neighborhood (bringing home the same chemicals used to make crystal meth) and not to mention the reliablity issues with the $40K truck, just to save a couple a hunderd bucks?

If I had a pool (and a beer) I'd be figuring out how to spend more time at the pool, playing on the wi-fi! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

...of course I could be wrong! Maybe it's way easier than it seeems [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

[mannytranny]

Think of it more like someone who brews their own beer. I dont run any in the truck. Or the TDI. But maybe after a while, I could see adding 5g every tank to keep things nice and clean...

I would say that you should be good to keep BD for at least 3 months. If you happen to see anything else settling out of it, run it through a 1M bag filter first.

I dont think that it needs to be stored in HDPE containers. But I dont know what else I would store it in.........

[Ford_Forgotton]

Bio-D is actually HARDER to burn than regular Diesel. Its considered NON-Hazardous waste. You can DRINK IT and its only effect is as a laxative, and its toxicity is 10 times less than TABLE SALT!

Oh, and its easier to make that you think.

You only need 15%-20% methanol by volume, so If you make 100 gallons of Bio-D a month, you only need about 15-20 gallons of Methanol. I know guys that burn that much methanol in just a couple of races in a night at the drags!

The only thing hazardous about making Bio-D is being sloppy and stupid. If you spill the Methoxide stuff on your clothes and dont get it off quickly, you will get what is effectively a very bad sunburn.

Finished product is harmless. and i mean dump it into the sewer harmless.

If your making LARGE batches, it might be worth the effort to recover your Methanol via Distillation. That way, you can re-use your methanol on later batches, thus decreasing your supply cost even more!

[damodt]

When ya figure out how to do it efficiently, make a video!
I'd buy a copy! I'm not opposed to the idea, just skeptical!

[Ford_Forgotton]

[ QUOTE ]
When ya figure out how to do it efficiently, make a video!
I'd buy a copy! I'm not opposed to the idea, just skeptical!

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, thats not a bad idea. I've got a vid cam, and I could just make clips and post them on the web like I do my quad videos.

Im staring at about 3 gallons of used oil, and a bottle of red devil lye. My Gram Scale should be here next week and HDPE #2 plastic bottles are easy to come by. I can pick up a can or two of HEAT just for demo purposes and be making fuel in not time!!

[damodt]

That would be alright of ya, to put it on your web site!

[TooMuchBoost]

The pool is about to be a memory since this house is already sold and I'm looking for another one.

Bio-D sounded like a more productive hobby to get into once I have more room and land, and if it can lower my cost of doing business and add more to the bottom line it sounds like a winner.

I'm going to follow this forum closely and I appreciate the knowledge.

[mattymx]

I am moving as well, so I have put the BD making off until I move.

[Houndog]

Been making BD for about 10 months now. One of the finest things that I have ever done. Started out running it in my John Deere 4020. I'll never forget standing up on the front tire of that tractor and the look my wife was giving me, while pouring someting I read about on the internet, into our big, beautiful tractor. It ran smoother, quieter and smelled like a dream compared to that horrible fermented, mammoth, dino- diesel smell. I have been hooked ever since. I drive about 150 miles a day for business and own a 4x4 yukon that I was tired of filling up. Went and bought a diesel car and now have over 10,000 miles on it with B100. Then I decided it was time to move along even further and purchased a 2000 Excursion Limited 4x4 PSD to drive back and forth to our ranch in Oklahoma, and now runs on B100 - and it's never going back. (Dumping the Yukon)

I make about 50 gallons a week and don't kid yourself - It takes time to make good fuel. It's like anything else, the more you make, the better you become and even though my fuel making prowess is fairly consistant, I get better every week. It's not hard to make, but I have made some 50 gallon batches in the beginning that had to be totally disposed of. Talk about depressing, but I knew I had to work through it.

If you going to get into making it just for the cost per gallon, I don't know if that will keep you going tank after tank. I have spent almost $2000 in barrels, chemical mixers (so I won't blow up) and other equipment, pumps, fittings and to much else to list. But every time I think about the fact that I now have one tractor and two cars that don't rely on those damn arabs and their oil, and how cool it is to be driving at 70 MPH knowing that I made that stuff powering me - there's nothing more exciting.

Houndog
Dallas, TX.

[teester]

Now that sounds like a reason to make your own!