home-brewing biodiesel

[cforst513]

i love flying!!! i'm almost done with my instrument!!!

ok, now that the aviation part is over, what do you guys know about making your own biodiesel? my dad has a big dodge cummins diesel ram 2500, and, just as everywhere else, fuel for his truck is PRICEY. i saw on TV this website (www.freedomfuelamerica.com) where you can order stuff to help you brew your own gas. but what do YOU guys know of it? anyone out there actually make their own diesel?

 

[gern_blanston]

My brother's running WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) in his turbodiesel. Slick setup. Gets deep-fryer oil from a cafe where he works, filters it in his garage, and runs for nothing. Smells like burnt onion rings when he drives.
http://www.greasecar.com
A couple of local TDIClub guys are setting up to make their own bio, but they're not up and running yet. They claim it's a pretty simple project.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

The methynol looks like the expensive part. Interesting setup.

Wonder what the cost-per-gallon works out to. You can drive a VW Golf Turbo-diesel that gets around 44per gallon...

 

[Dangerkitty]

My brother's running WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) in his turbodiesel. Slick setup. Gets deep-fryer oil from a cafe where he works, filters it in his garage, and runs for nothing. Smells like burnt onion rings when he drives.
http://www.greasecar.com
A couple of local TDIClub guys are setting up to make their own bio, but they're not up and running yet. They claim it's a pretty simple project.

How does you brothers car drive? Can you tell ANY difference from using Veggie Oil vs. statard fuel?

I have been to website a few times and it is very interesting. I would love to hear the pros and cons of using the Vegetable Oil.

 

[Dan CFI/CFII]

I know some guys using the FFA setup--VERY easy. Very cheap.

The hard part is getting a source for WVO. Some guys have struck deals with restraunts to dispose of their oil, but are simply swamped with the amount of WVO they end up with.

The B100 itself is really, really sweet stuff. Everyone I know says they get slightly less MPG on B100 vs dinodiesel, but it's a mile or two per gallon at most. The other big problem is that the BioDiesel tends to clean the fuel system out pretty well, and that caused the gunk that years of dinodiesel has made to wash out into the fuel filter for the first tank or two.

But it can be mixed in any ratio with dinodiesel. The only real problem is that with pure B100, there are gelling problems at low temperatures. Mixing some dinodiesel will generally fix it, or FFA sells a product (LDL) that is supposed to fix it as well. But I don't know anyone who has tried the LDL, so I can't say how it should work.

I'll most likely be joining the mix someday soon, as I'm converting my Toyota Pickup to a Toyota Diesel, and should be running in the next two months or so. Not only will my pickup get great mileage, but my friends here who make B100 out of WVO are doing it for $0.73-$0.86 per gallon!

Dan

 

[FurloughedAgain]

What if you went down to Sam's Club and picked up big jugs of vegetable oil? or went to a restaurant supply company and purchased oil?

I'm just wondering if buying what you need is not just easier than trying to store barrels and barrels of used restaurant oil.

This is definately intriguing though.

 

[gern_blanston]

Once my brother got the filtering and heating figgered out, he's had NO problems at all. He filters the oil 3 times, and has a heated filter in the car. You can't tell the difference in driving when the computer switches the engine from dead dinosaurs to 'greasel', and he gets the roughly the same mileage on either one. His diesel tank (the stock fuel tank in the) gets him about 3,000 miles between fillups, since he only runs dino for about 4 minutes at startup to get the coolant (which heats the veggy oil) up to temperature.
It's pretty neat. Wintertime thickening of the oil might be a factor, but other than that, it's a nearly invisible system that basically runs for FREE once your filter/storage system are up and running.
As for buying veggy oil, why?!? For now, most any restaurant that has a deep-fryer will gladly give you the used stuff rather than pay to have it hauled away.
My brother leaves a couple of jerry-cans behind the cafe, with pour-through filters to get the big chunks out when the oil is poured in hot, then they turn the cans around so when he drives by, he knows they've been filled, so he tosses 'em in the trunk and takes 'em home. The filter/pump setup in his garage took a little time and money.
Here's a summary on his website.

 

[Otto77]

hmmm i wonder if stuff like this could be the way of the future..pretty kick azz if you ask me

 

[Dangerkitty]

Once my brother got the filtering and heating figgered out, he's had NO problems at all. He filters the oil 3 times, and has a heated filter in the car. You can't tell the difference in driving when the computer switches the engine from dead dinosaurs to 'greasel', and he gets the roughly the same mileage on either one. His diesel tank (the stock fuel tank in the) gets him about 3,000 miles between fillups, since he only runs dino for about 4 minutes at startup to get the coolant (which heats the veggy oil) up to temperature.
It's pretty neat. Wintertime thickening of the oil might be a factor, but other than that, it's a nearly invisible system that basically runs for FREE once your filter/storage system are up and running.
As for buying veggy oil, why?!? For now, most any restaurant that has a deep-fryer will gladly give you the used stuff rather than pay to have it hauled away.
My brother leaves a couple of jerry-cans behind the cafe, with pour-through filters to get the big chunks out when the oil is poured in hot, then they turn the cans around so when he drives by, he knows they've been filled, so he tosses 'em in the trunk and takes 'em home. The filter/pump setup in his garage took a little time and money.
Here's a summary on his website.

Gern,

Looks like your brother did a great job. One question though. Since you have to use regular diesel to run the engine to warm up the oil, can you just drive the car on regular diesel if for some reason you run out of vegetable oil?

And just to make sure I understand you. When you state that it runs just like a normal car on greasel are you stating that it has the exact same pick up and acceleration as normal diesel?

Thanks in advance. I really think I wanna get one of these things.

 

[gern_blanston]

Yeah, it's a 2-tank setup. You start and warm up on diesel, then switch to veggy oil. You can run on either one. He can go about 1,600 miles without filling up if he runs all the diesel and all the veggy oil out! The valves run return fuel to the tank it comes from, that's why there's not just a simple left/right valve like in a '172.
And you absolutely cannot tell the difference in acceleration or driveability between dino and veggy.
It's pretty cool.