[AbovetheCut]

is anyone making their own biodiesel with any success? i am reading alot these days and would like to try this but on a small scale (10-20gal). maybe mixing it 50/50 with diesel from the pump. i want to try this out before spending $3K on the nice equipment. thougths?

 

[jonnyB]

The problem is finding used cooking oil! If you have a supply of it it would be worth it.

 

[Rocking B Ranch]

You gotta be careful when you do find a restaurant that will give or sell you the cooking oil as well. Some places use both veggie oil and animal oil and they will throw them both out in the same traps! Makes for a bad time in a diesel. Check your local jails and prisons. Most of them in our area use veggie oil and some of them will give ya all you can use!:thumbsup

 

[SootKing]

haha local jails and prisons?!?! u could soot the cons out! then prob get shot! haha

 

[totalloser]

Animal fat is fine for biodiesel, but the hydrocarbon chains are longer, so it is slightly more viscous, and has a lower cloud/gel point. If you are in cold climate this can be offset some by adding kerosene. My supplier adds about 10% kerosene for my winter blend (I buy bulk) The PH, I believe is lower, so you use more lye to split the glycerine, but I'm not sure about that.

Oh, and I think the best thing to do is buy every book you can. You'll save the $100 in avoided screwups. A good read before getting into it is "From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank" by Joshua Tickell. I got it as a first read when I was considering it, but quickly realized it would be like running a second business, and made more financial sense for me to just buy the stuff. I run heavy equipment (it's GREAT for that by the way) so I burn a lot.

 

[terminaltsi]

well, i have an interesting deal working for me regarding bio. i know a guy who knows a guy who bought the $3200 conversion kit. unforunately for him, he couldn't get any oil! all the restaurants in town are contracted to one oil recycler. so the equipment has been sitting for a few months.

well, the guy i know put me in touch wiht his friend becuase my wife happens to be the GM of a kfc/taco bell restaurant! as such, she can make available to me all the oil i care to recover from their tank, as well as the tanks of the other local restaurants that she's cool with the GM's.
so i bought a pump, hoses, and got a couple 55 gal barrels. he's buying the methanol and lye and doing the work and i supply the raw oil and get mroe fuel than i can use in a week!

just yesterday i gave the guy with the kit both barrels to start converting. hopefully this weekend it will be all done and i can run my first tank of bio. i'll post up when it's in and running.

 

[MasterMind]

In the manual it says to keep warranty to only use 5%. But you have a 2000, so no worries.

 

[dezl]

I run and have been running 100% bio for a while now and I havent had any problems. The hardest thing is finding "clean" oil. I get oil from several places, some using cleaning agents that get into the oil which can make some funky crap come out of your processor. Also if you live in small or medium size town I would try hotels as well. I get 250 gallons a week from a local hotel, not to mention they actually signed a contract with myself and a buddy saying that they would give it to anyone else!

 

[Kentucky Cummins]

anyone know any good websites with info on making bio diesel?

 

[rufushusky]

anyone know any good websites with info on making bio diesel?

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