Bio Diesel again lol!!

[ronsarrox]

Been using a blend of 50%bio to 50% SVO for the past 2 weeks now, and the truck is running like a dream. changed fuel filter last week, was a bit mucky inside, but thats to be expected when its been ran on derv/svo and now bio/svo!! it starts up wonderfully in the morning, and runs excellent, no glitches or murmors, and it smells lovely when i drive with the rear window down!!

Supplier of bio is a bit unreliable, still waiting for a delivery from thursday!! managed to source another supplier, and by shear chance he is near to leicester today so managed to get another 75litres (3 weeks worth of fuel) of bio. not sure which avenue to go down after this has been used up, only seem to find suppliers who will only deliver minimum of 1000litres, thats no good for me as i dont have the space or storage facilitiy for this amount, nor do i have the cash!! might try and strike a deal with this new supplier.

keep y`all posted onhow things develop.


im considering buying a processing unit myself, found one for £330 deliverd, can produce upto 160 litres of bio a day, if i do do this, i might consider selling some to members on here, but not sure yet, i am doing alot of research into this, so i will let y`all now what i decide.

[SPEEDYSQUIRES]

How much are you paying per litre for your bio mate?

[Rustinho]

Just a thought - as a way to avoid having to pay fuel duty on anything you sell you might be better off selling "time using the processor" rather than the bio diesel itself.

A mate of mine from years ago used to use a local micro-brewery's equipment to make large amounts of "home brew". The brewery supplied the ingredients you wanted and you paid for the time using their equipment. Nice and cheap and you avoid paying tax on it all...

[ronsarrox]

How much are you paying per litre for your bio mate?

80-90p per litre, depends where i get it from.

[jaky cakes]

im considering buying a processing unit myself, found one for £330 deliverd, can produce upto 160 litres of bio a day, if i do do this, i might consider selling some to members on here, but not sure yet, i am doing alot of research into this, so i will let y`all now what i decide.

I would do a lot of research into these processing units - most of them are nothing more than an oil drum with an emersion heater bolted on the side and a central heating pump, and more importantly - can be extremely dangerous through either methanol poisoning or explosion.
Do a search on line for a "GL" style processor plans - possibly the safest and easiest way to home produce bio. I made my own GL system for around £200 which produces around 100 litres in 3-4 days. all systems can produce fuel in 24hours - but the quality suffers unless you buy extra cleaning/filtering gear which works out very expensive.

here's a link to making a GL processor
http://www.graham-laming.com/bd/ecosystem/ecosystem.htm

and a link to step by step instructions
http://www.graham-laming.com/bd/ecos...iagram_new.htm.

[ronsarrox]

I would do a lot of research into these processing units - most of them are nothing more than an oil drum with an emersion heater bolted on the side and a central heating pump, and more importantly - can be extremely dangerous through either methanol poisoning or explosion.
Do a search on line for a "GL" style processor plans - possibly the safest and easiest way to home produce bio. I made my own GL system for around £200 which produces around 100 litres in 3-4 days. all systems can produce fuel in 24hours - but the quality suffers unless you buy extra cleaning/filtering gear which works out very expensive.

here's a link to making a GL processor
http://www.graham-laming.com/bd/ecosystem/ecosystem.htm

and a link to step by step instructions
http://www.graham-laming.com/bd/ecos...iagram_new.htm.

Thanks for the infor buddy.

The one im looking at is made by a firm in yorkshire, cant remeber the name of them at this moment but it looks to be of good quality. But it is as you described, an oil drum with a pump and heater, im sure a reputable company wouldnt be selling dangerous equipment.

I do know of the risks invloved using caustic soda and methanol, but to be honest i cant see it being any more hazardous than handling petrol and any other flamable liquid in the shed, i could be wrong, but theres only one way to find out, and thats start to produce it!

Not sure yet, might just leave it for now and continue to buy it from the supplier i have found.

[Rustinho]

Thanks for the infor buddy.

The one im looking at is made by a firm in yorkshire, cant remeber the name of them at this moment but it looks to be of good quality. But it is as you described, an oil drum with a pump and heater, im sure a reputable company wouldnt be selling dangerous equipment.

I do know of the risks invloved using caustic soda and methanol, but to be honest i cant see it being any more hazardous than handling petrol and any other flamable liquid in the shed, i could be wrong, but theres only one way to find out, and thats start to produce it!

Not sure yet, might just leave it for now and continue to buy it from the supplier i have found.

Methanol isn't much of a problem to handle as long as you keep it away from sources of ignition (depending on what you're actually mixing it with and how).

Caustic soda, however, is a completely different kettle of fish.

Take a look at this:

http://msds.chem.ox.ac.uk/SO/sodium_hydroxide.html

I've had fairly minor burns from using caustic in the lab (basically, I got a small amount on my hands and immediately washed it off) and it hurts like a mother4ker! I've encountered a few accidents in labs over the years (former safety rep) and caustic tends to be as bad as anything cos people get a bit blasé about it. The problem is that it dissolves flesh & basically turns it into soap. Nasty.

It might sound OTT but make sure you have appropriate gear around to stop you coming into contact with it in the first place (gloves, etc) and make sure you have something appropriate to wash it off with if the worst should happen (eye wash in particular).