A friend of mine and I are in the preliminary stages of collecting waste veg oil, and setting up a bio-diesel system... was wondering who on here is running it, if you're running it 100% or what mix, and just any info you might have to pass on... do you buy it, make it yourself, how hard has it been to collect WVO, anything... just want to make contact with others with this intrest.
WVO makes sence if only one vehicle is gonna be used... but I've got sevral trucks and tractors I'd like to run on them, so going bio makes more cents **grin** so I can just dump the bio in the tank and go, and be able to switch back to dino fuel at any time, or mix, etc. Not that I'm dissin' WVO straight, but my friend and I have about 10 diesels between us... that's a lot of conversions to do... But I'll admit I haven't given straight VO much thought, just been thinking along the lines of bio... might be somthing to think of... any more comments on your experiances?
I have run bio-d in the past. With the way fuel prices have come down, I have stopped. I didnt make it myself. I "donated" $2.00 a gallon for it from a guy that supplies alot of people in my area. This was when diesel was $4.50+. Truck ran noticeably quieter, didnt notice a MPG difference, and had to change the fuel filter once (it acts as a detergent and will break loose crap and crud in the fuel system). If I had enough friends with diesels, I wouldnt hesitate to start makin it. Just not worth it for just myself and the 1 other buddy.
i make Bio-D i collect around 450 gallons of WVO a month i was just out collecting i snapped a pic of my truck at the house on my way out shes about half full at that point
we're gonna start collecting WVO, and see how it goes... between the two of us and our collection of diesels, the cost of the fuelmeister system we're looking at would pay for it's self in a year, and we have lots of contacts with local restuaunts and such... we think it's worth a try... even if the cost is closer to even with dino fuel being lower cost now, it's worth something to the enviroment... and that might make my ol' man get off my case for running a ton truck as a daily driver!
yup, we're thinkin' about makin' our own system too... just might be more cost effective to buy one, vs the time and brain power in engineering our own... collecting the parts, etc. We'll see what happens... right now, collection is the first step, we have drums for storage, and the space to do it...
find you some 250 gallon cube's like the one in the back of my truck. alot eaisier to use for storage not so easy for collection if you dont have a fork lift lol
My buddy has 55gal drums, and the means to move/lift them... we'll use them at first...
I have one of the 275 gal cubes you mention, it's my water hauling tank! I live on a hill, with no useable well or other water supply, have to haul every drop I use...
My buddy and I were just getting ready to build or processor when the fuel went through the roof and all the reder companies tripled the price they were paying for the used oil so all the sources I had for my oil were gone. Glad I found out before we built the processor. This happened to a lot of people and there were processors for sale everywhere on the cheap!!! In my area every food place no matter how small has the commercial dumpster in the back for collection. I can't believe they even hit the small country store places way out in the country. It is impossible to find oil around here unless you know the owner or are willing to pay $ for it. My best advice is make sure you have a solid source for the oil before investing the money in a processor.
I would still love to do it, but I just don't have a source for the oil.
Good Luck
Through the various biodiesel locator engines on the net I found a local truck stop selling B99 biodiesel. I wanted to use it as a lubricity additive to make my own B5 out of the cheap and convenient local petro diesel. Basicly buy 10 gallons and use it one gallon at a time.
The truck stop had diesel at 2.49 per gallon and the B99 at 4.99 per gallon. No friggin way. I added two stroke oil instead and am trying that route.
I like the fact that the bio will clean all the crud out of my fuel system. I don't want that crud in there.
My truck LOVES Bio. I ran b50 for about 4k miles. the truck is much quieter, smoother and just over all happier. I have no time to make the bio at the moment so I am back on diesel. Ill warn you, it takes alot of effort from start to finish to do bio. starting at collecting vo, filtering, getting rid of the snot stuff and then the song and dance to make the bio. If you build your own you will save TONS! I am still ahead of my buddy who bought a pre built setup and i have WAY WAY WAY More then him (including the fence see below) he spent 3k on his pro cone bottom setup thing from some big name bio selling place. I have less then 3k in it and i have dry washing and many many many more stages to about make a nice little assembly line.
Rev 1 cost me about 500 bucks
rev something or another (lost track...) looks like this
on the right is the settling barrels that I let the oil sit in for 1 to 3 months and suck from the top. on the left at the far end is the processor (barrel from rev1 above) and 3 settling tanks the 4th sitting on the ground is a place holder at the moment. then closest on the left is where the settled bio goes into the purolite kegs to dry wash. No water washing here! sssssssssooooooooo much better! no emolutions, no washing 20 times, no waste water... the kegs with resin were about 250 ish (DIY of course). so after I make bio i drain the glycerine and heat it to 150 for 2 hours through a 5 micron bag filter. then I send it to the settling barrels for as long as it can sit for (2 weeks to a few weeks depending on how much I am using) after settling I suck from the stand pipe in the settling barrel to the clear barrel. then gravity feed through the kegs (lead/lag config) into the clear barrel with the blue rag on it. then to the truck I go. the done barrel has a dip tube on one side and a air fitting on the other. I use my onboard air to pressureize the barrel (2 to 4 psi) and push the bio through 2 water seperator wix filters and into the truck.
If you are going to burn alot, go SVO... SSSSOOOO much easier and faster! I am working on a svo setup now. its no were near as complicated as I once thought.
over all, I started out wanting to make Bio to save money. well I got too over excited and ended up looking at it as a science experiment/learning experience :thumb:
Made my first deal on WVO today... local grocery store/deli said I could have what they use... not much, but it's a start! Also asked at the local ARBYS where I get coffee every morning, they and the other 13 stores owned by the same guy sell theirs to someone... so no dice there. I'm goin' for free stuff!
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