Filtering veggie again

[Apache]

Now 'expert Gra' is around, I'd like to run this past the readership.

My current plan is to put a tank in the garage loft, and rough filter the WVO into that via, say a washable 200m bag. From there, I will gravity feed a 25m and a 5m canister downstairs and feed the output into a collection tank with a tap on so I can collect the oil in cans to pour into the truck.

I have a fishtank heater that I could put in this lower tank to evaporate off any water. Will this work? Is it worth it?

Suggestions please, and also suggestions as to where to buy cheap canister filters, or is the ~ £10 each on eBay a good price?

Ta folks!

[gwh200]

me...........expert.....na

but it sounds ok mate.the real issue is water and fat.as you are not washing it via a catalyst and so on, good staged settlement seems the way.run it through progressively finer filters and by all means heat it up. dont forget the water wont evaporate till its close to or at 100 c,but if you can get it thinner it may be easier to handle.
its any potential fat that could cause issues. the acidity can wreck everything, and you never know when a big prob will occur.i would filter it as you have suggested, but please bear in mind that a molecule is deemed soluble at 25 microns and therefore dirty wvo would not filter through a claimed "1 micron" filter. i used to use glass fibre woven filters and they were 25 micron filter, and they were £3.50 each so beware of bogus claims.
the bottom line is try your set up and then take a sample. leave it in a narrow clear plastic vessel for about 2 days. the sample should have very very little gunk in it and ideally none. if you get any residue, keep trying ever finer filters,and be prepered to get the fat out somehow,possibly with
methanol (model car fuel works well) good luck andy, keep us informed as to how it goes

[KERRSURF]

As Gra said, if you get a good sample you can be pretty confident it will be ok, keep a spare fuel filter handy for truck and start saving up for new injectors.

[gwh200]

look at yoshie...he has used filtered wvo for ages with no problems.have a regular filter change and i would reccomend redex at least once a month, to remove fat build up,but settle a sample and if there is no settlement and no fat on top just wind it straight in mate

[Apache]

I only thought of evaporation at lower temperatures because I used to have to top up my fish tank frequently because of evaporation at 25 degrees. If you dont think its worth it, I wont bother.

The oil I have has been settling for a week or so and there seems to be very little 'gunk' as such, just larger 'bits' (a few millimetres in size) which is great as its easy to filter that out.

How does the methanol remove the animal fats? (words no longer than 2 syllables please - I failed chem O-level three times!)

[gwh200]

I only thought of evaporation at lower temperatures because I used to have to top up my fish tank frequently because of evaporation at 25 degrees. If you dont think its worth it, I wont bother.

The oil I have has been settling for a week or so and there seems to be very little 'gunk' as such, just larger 'bits' (a few millimetres in size) which is great as its easy to filter that out.

How does the methanol remove the animal fats? (words no longer than 2 syllables please - I failed chem O-level three times!)

it doesn't remove it as much as alter its state.imagine you have (for instance) sodium and chlorine.both by themselves are pretty nasty substances, but mix them together and you get a new substance....salt, which performs the marvelous trask of making your chips tasty and keeping you alive.
by adding methanol/ethanol to oil you get a slightly altered molecule
i believe along with the washing its called transtesterfercation
just as long as it has no solid content it has no fat, or not enough to cause concern and will be fine.

and as for topping up your fish tank, normal evaporation will occur naturally.by heating it you should make it easier to handle , and possibly easier to filter.

[peter026]

Here you are evrything you want to know

http://www.mervtech.com/oursites/whybiodiesel

$37

[darkdezigns]

on a side note, i came by some methanol,today,bout 10 litres,gra fancy explaining roughly how much to add to wvo?

[gwh200]

on a side note, i came by some methanol,today,bout 10 litres,gra fancy explaining roughly how much to add to wvo?

cant remeber offhand but i think its at aratio of 27/3

[GIRDLES]

Its not as simple as just adding methanol, The methanol is mixed with caustic soda to make methoxide this is then added at 50c and mixed for 1 hr you are now making BIO DIESEL the fats and waste will all fall to the bottom to be drained away and so the process goes on have a good read on this site it could save you £s in repairs to your trucks. http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/index.php

[Vagrant No2]

Its not as simple as just adding methonal, The methonal is mixed with caustic soda to make methoxide this is then added at 50c and mixed for 1 hr you are now making BIO DIESEL the fats and waste will all fall to the bottom to be drained away and so the process goes on have a good read on this site it could save you £s in repairs to your trucks. http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/index.php

This is how my neighbour makes his WVO . It stinks . He has his garage away from the house and told me if I wanted to make the stuff to build a shed and not use my garage as it is conected to the house and the fumes would be unbearable in the house.

[Apache]

Oh so much conflicting information again...

I posted on the veggie site when I first started getting hold of the WVO, saying that from one source, it could contain animal fats. Their answer was to not worry too much, just make sure it was settled properly, and filtered to something comparable with the fuel filter in the truck.

Now there's some doom and gloom about expensive repairs if its not converted to biodiesel.

[GIRDLES]

Yes, stinks and can be very Dangerous with the chemicals used: Methanol, Caustic soda, Hot oil.
Making BIO is a world away from using WVO: Settle ,Filter, then into truck.

[GIRDLES]

Apache

Have run the truck 7000 miles on 80-100% WVO with just settling and filtering. No heating, no additives, just a little Diesel when its cold to thin the oil.
I redexed the system once but found that a good thrashing does the same or seems too any way. Changed the fuel filter at 5000, wasted my time as the filter was clean. About to fit a heat exchanger to run 90-100% all winter.
The savings are fantastic £75-80 to fill a tank with Derv maybe spend £10 now. Go and have a good read on the Veg site.
Most people get confused with BIO and WVO preperations this is were the conflicting arguments start.

[biosurf]

Oh so much conflicting information again...

I posted on the veggie site when I first started getting hold of the WVO, saying that from one source, it could contain animal fats. Their answer was to not worry too much, just make sure it was settled properly, and filtered to something comparable with the fuel filter in the truck.

Now there's some doom and gloom about expensive repairs if its not converted to biodiesel.

I know exactly what you mean. From most of the sites I read, the consensus seemed to be that using unprocessed WVO would destroy your engine through fatty acid damage even if you do manage to get all the water and crud out. So I decided to make biodiesel proper, then lost the space I had to make it in.
Now have lots of WVO stored and keep oscillating between, 'cool ,lots of people do it and is apparently fine, I'll filter and stick it in' and 'but what if it lessens the life of the engine to the point that it is a false economy'

In some ways with the price of 4x4's now, financially you could argue that even if it does eventually lessen the life of the engine its probably cheaper even if you have to replace the vehicle every now and again but my vaguely green leanings then come to the fore and can't quite live with that argument.

In terms of making bio and the fumes, practically speaking its not that hard to make and the chemicals are readily obtainable and reasonably cheap. You must ensure its vented to the outside so you don't a) die of methoxide fumes and b) go kaboom.
in terms of smell, I guess (and keeping with the aquarium theme) it may work to put an activated carbon filter in the vent system? Works for gas masks.
Doh!!!