Biodiesel

[mtt.tr]

Friend with a 300tdi has than 150k miles on filtered chipfat.
That alone is pretty grim

Proper Bio diesel to me has always seemed a lot of work, I've always wanted to know how McDonald's do it

 

[Kayos]

Friend with a 300tdi has than 150k miles on filtered chipfat.
That alone is pretty grim

Proper Bio diesel to me has always seemed a lot of work, I've always wanted to know how McDonald's do it

If they are putting it in modern trucks it probably costs more than pump diesel, but it looks good

 

[mtt.tr]

If they are putting it in modern trucks it probably costs more than pump diesel, but it looks good

That's what I think

 

[Johnnybravo]

Waste plastic is in plentifull free supply. If I had the space, away from a residential area I would consider building a small reactor to pyrolise HDPE and PET and other simple plastics into fuel.

The process is not cost effective yet, the amount of energy required doesn’t warrant what it yields

 

[Migmac]

If they are putting it in modern trucks it probably costs more than pump diesel, but it looks good

10p a litre more than diesel I was told

 

[Domdom]

, including the damn DPF..

That’s the bit I never understood, why DPF causes so much bother. I’m no chemist, more a mathematician, but I do recall reading a paper on some formal testing done in the USA with a 5.9 Cummins. If memory serves one of the conclusions was that a blend of 80/20 (B20) where 20% biodiesel is in the blend almost negated the need to active DPF regeneration and even the passive DPF could be smaller whilst maintaining the same effect.

What am I missing?

 

[123hotchef]

@8ob u should just use black desiel keep all your old engine diff and box oils and filter those for fuel. free!

 

[8ob]

@8ob u should just use black desiel keep all your old engine diff and box oils and filter those for fuel. free!

An offgrid mate of mine used to use that in his genny, I reckon he spent the difference on filters not to mention lots of downtime.

Bob

 

[123hotchef]

An offgrid mate of mine used to use that in his genny, I reckon he spent the difference on filters not to mention lots of downtime.

Bob

what I filter mine mix it with a splash of petrol, some veg oil some regualr derv if I have it. it all goes in the old mitsi

 

[a111r]

The machine I looked at was similar to this one...basically you have to get the measures right and then it takes care of everything else (supposedly) - the one I saw had eye measures so seemed pretty hard to get it wrong. I have no idea whether it actually works...but seems a simpler solution than others I've seen.

It was the hassle of finding and storing all the ingredients that put me off...not the sort of stuff you can pick up at Tesco.

Bio Pro 190 Stainless Steel Automated Biodiesel Processor - Make 50 Gallons Of Biodiesel With Ease! Metal Biodiesel Processor - Utah Biodiesel Supply

The BioPro 190 Biodiesel Processor, a completely automated Biodiesel processor. Makes Biodiesel in 48 hours with minimal hands on time.

www.utahbiodieselsupply.com

Unfortunately, all those off the peg machines seem to have been designed by people without a strong grounding in the chemistry of transesterification and the maths and testing needed to ensure 100% conversion.

I helped a chap who had bought a UK version and the instruction were a joke, plus lots of plastic and jubilee clips. The open-source GL DIY reactors were the most popular DIY option, easily built for under £200 and yes, some welding was required!

I know five members on here in person from the now defunct VOD forum.
Possibly @123hotchef was Greenchef there..?

 

[123hotchef]

Unfortunately, all those off the peg machines seem to have been designed by people without a strong grounding in the chemistry of transesterification and the maths and testing needed to ensure 100% conversion.

I helped a chap who had bought a UK version and the instruction were a joke, plus lots of plastic and jubilee clips. The open-source GL DIY reactors were the most popular DIY option, easily built for under £200 and yes, some welding was required!

I know five members on here in person from the now defunct VOD forum.
Possibly @123hotchef was Greenchef there..?

Not heard of the vod forum it wasn't me lol

 

[knighty]

I ran veg for ~100k miles in a common rail sprinter and ~80k miles in a common rail Iveco daily (both twin tanked, start on diesel switch over to veg)

never had a single real problem while I was driving a couple of times I forgot to switch back over to diesel on a night.... when I went to start it I'd tip a couple of buckets of hot water over the injection pump, injector lines etc.. and they would fire up no problem

stopped running veg because I wasn't doing any real driving anymore and other drivers were useless (including my bother and dad) - had constant problems if others driving them but I've got no idea why


I've got a biodiesel reactor but I've never used it, I'm going to get it going soon with diesel prices the way they are.... I should have had it going ages ago

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Unfortunately, all those off the peg machines seem to have been designed by people without a strong grounding

Chemistry just isn't my thing at all (a man should know his limitations)...I seem to remember they supplied some sort of test kit so basically the oil could be tested before the process was even started. Personally I think I'd just use fresh oil every time...used oil seemed like a lot could go wrong.

I never went ahead...main problem was if it went wrong (which at some point I was sure it would)....how would I dispose of what I couldn't use!

I did like the sound of using an old diesel Merc with a separate veg tank with a heater...thats more my level I reckon...except I knew I'd always forget to switch back to diesel before turning the engine off!!!!!!

 

[a111r]

Chemistry just isn't my thing at all (a man should know his limitations)...I seem to remember they supplied some sort of test kit so basically the oil could be tested before the process was even started. Personally I think I'd just use fresh oil every time...used oil seemed like a lot could go wrong.

I never went ahead...main problem was if it went wrong (which at some point I was sure it would)....how would I dispose of what I couldn't use!

I did like the sound of using an old diesel Merc with a separate veg tank with a heater...thats more my level I reckon...except I knew I'd always forget to switch back to diesel before turning the engine off!!!!!!

That was titration kit, to measure the acidity of the wvo.
Using fresh oil (svo, as they call it) to make bio is both too expensive and wasteful of 'food'.
Fresh oil would cost at least £1/L now. Methanol and electricity usage then accounts for around 20 ppL.

Twin tank systems are / or can be good.
When I started out, I met a guy nearby who had spent 2K equipping his Merc 190d with a SmartVeg TT kit and I tried to fix it, when it stared running badly. Just local trips killed his engine after not many miles - via the 'ring gumming'.
Helping him out FOC paid off. I took over his local collections of nice oil from hipster Hackney gastro pubs and they lasted me five years.

Every bio brewer / wvo user I've met has 'mess stories', it's a common link in the game.
My 'best' was a 60L drum of rancid kebab fat, an ill-fitting drum lid, a sharp left hander and an ominous thud. That saved on Waxoyl...

 

[julianf]

That was titration kit, to measure the acidity of the wvo.
Using fresh oil (svo, as they call it) to make bio is both too expensive and wasteful of 'food'.
Fresh oil would cost at least £1/L now. Methanol and electricity usage then accounts for around 20 ppL.

Twin tank systems are / or can be good.
When I started out, I met a guy nearby who had spent 2K equipping his Merc 190d with a SmartVeg TT kit and I tried to fix it, when it stared running badly. Just local trips killed his engine after not many miles - via the 'ring gumming'.
Helping him out FOC paid off. I took over his local collections of nice oil from hipster Hackney gastro pubs and they lasted me five years.

I wouldn't be surprised if Steve's PD golf is still running perfectly soundly on veg oil even now.

For those who don't know him, a VW PD engine (pretty much common rail) running on waste veg oil, by paying attention to engine temps before switchover between aux (diesel) tank and main (waste vegetable oil) tank.

 

[a111r]

I wouldn't be surprised if Steve's PD golf is still running perfectly soundly on veg oil even now.

For those who don't know him, a VW PD engine (pretty much common rail) running on waste veg oil, by paying attention to engine temps before switchover between aux (diesel) tank and main (waste vegetable oil) tank.

Yes, was is still going last year on something like 250K.
And I fixed his MIG welder.

 

[Farside]

My 'best' was a 60L drum of rancid kebab fat, an ill-fitting drum lid, a sharp left hander and an ominous thud. That saved on Waxoyl...

Same here. Mk6 Transits tended to get a bit frilly around the edges but mine never did at ten years old. I put that down to the spilled grease down the inside channels.
I gave up on making BD after about four years. Ended up being too much hassle getting the oil as the regs on waste disposal were tightened up over here.
All the same it was worthwhile, knocking out fuel for about 26c/L

 

[a111r]

Same here. Mk6 Transits tended to get a bit frilly around the edges but mine never did at ten years old. I put that down to the spilled grease down the inside channels.
I gave up on making BD after about four years. Ended up being too much hassle getting the oil as the regs on waste disposal were tightened up over here.
All the same it was worthwhile, knocking out fuel for about 26c/L

Yes, it was interesting. And I met a load of great folk, over the years.

The repercussions, in retrospect?
I never killed an engine but maybe my cervical disc problems are from all that manual lifting, up stairs etc?

 

[Bryan Williams]

So, in conclusion then, it sounds like more time and faff than reward, in which case I will just buy 20 litre drums of Veg oil from Costco and mix it 50/50 with Diesel which I am assured will work in the Astra.
Not totally self reliant but cheaper to run than the current eye watering prices of road fuel.

The old bosch pumps don't mind it but the lucas pumps do.