My processor stuff

[Timthetoolman]

Here is some of my process stuff I have made over the last couple of years, I can run about 40 gallons at one time.

It is messy but I can pass the 3/27 test.

The jars are: left, crapy veggie oil I get, middle is the bio made from it and right in good once used veggie oil into bio.

 

[h2odrx]

looks good, what is the mixing tank for? what is the processor made from? and what size?

 

[FordGuy100]

OK guys, I'm trying to get into this whole biodiesel thing. I havent gone and looked for WVO yet, though I have posted up a wanted add in the local craigslist. I'm actually willing to pay a good $.50 a gallon for waste vegetable oil, I put that in there, maybe someone will bight .

So I guess my first question should be, wheres the best place to look for oil? I mean would a McDonalds oil be good, or is that stuff used to much or something? There's a McDonalds, a couple Mexican resturants, a pizza place, and not much else in town here.

What stuff am I going to need to process this stuff? I've seen that some use water heaters and the sort....walk me through your setup and tell me how it all works.

 

[SKimballC]

Justin, there's a few things to consider when it comes to scoring WVO. Here's my take. First off, you need to avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. They're bad- thick, nasty, fatty goop that doesn't lend itself well to any part of this process from the fryer to your tank.
Go in and eat somewhere, and then ask to talk to the manager or kitchen manager and very politely express your interest in assuming the collection of their waste grease. Try to get the kitchen manager to show you the box that the oil that they use comes in. If it says non-hydrogenated on it, use it. McDonald's is not a good place to start. Look for an independent establishment. Go round back and discreetly check out their oil trap, and see if it's covered and shut. I used to rule places out just by seeing how gnarly their methods of disposal are. The more **** floating in it- paper towels, gloves, dead rats, I've seen it all, but don't worry about the french fries or egg rolls - and lots of water mixed in with it in it means WAY more work getting it to a usable state and results in less junk after settling and filtering. Also, remember- in many cases, if you are replacing the contracted services of their previous renderer, that means if you take any of their grease, you'll probably have to take it all. Which means you have to consider disposal of the worthless crud. I prefer to dump it guerrilla-style back into unlocked grease traps . You can convince them to pour it back into the 5 gallon jugs that it comes in and you can collect it that way and they won't necessarily have to end their contract with their renderer.
In my experiences, Asian joints have the best grease, hands down. They fry a lot of food, use quality oil, and change it out frequently. Mexican restaurants can be good, as well as down-home fryer-heavy kinds of American fare.
Here's some tips from the collective wisdom about collecting WVO.
http://www.lovecraftbiofuels.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=4&Itemid=76
http://www.greasecar.com/article.cfm?aid=19
Remember, you may need to travel a bit further to secure sources of WVO, but it can be worth it, within reason.

 

[FordGuy100]

Justin, there's a few things to consider when it comes to scoring WVO. Here's my take. First off, you need to avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. They're bad- thick, nasty, fatty goop that doesn't lend itself well to any part of this process from the fryer to your tank.
Go in and eat somewhere, and then ask to talk to the manager or kitchen manager and very politely express your interest in assuming the collection of their waste grease. Try to get the kitchen manager to show you the box that the oil that they use comes in. If it says non-hydrogenated on it, use it. McDonald's is not a good place to start. Look for an independent establishment. Go round back and discreetly check out their oil trap, and see if it's covered and shut. I used to rule places out just by seeing how gnarly their methods of disposal are. The more **** floating in it- paper towels, gloves, dead rats, I've seen it all, but don't worry about the french fries or egg rolls - and lots of water mixed in with it in it means WAY more work getting it to a usable state and results in less junk after settling and filtering. Also, remember- in many cases, if you are replacing the contracted services of their previous renderer, that means if you take any of their grease, you'll probably have to take it all. Which means you have to consider disposal of the worthless crud. I prefer to dump it guerrilla-style back into unlocked grease traps . You can convince them to pour it back into the 5 gallon jugs that it comes in and you can collect it that way and they won't necessarily have to end their contract with their renderer.
In my experiences, Asian joints have the best grease, hands down. They fry a lot of food, use quality oil, and change it out frequently. Mexican restaurants can be good, as well as down-home fryer-heavy kinds of American fare.
Here's some tips from the collective wisdom about collecting WVO.
http://www.lovecraftbiofuels.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=4&Itemid=76
http://www.greasecar.com/article.cfm?aid=19
Remember, you may need to travel a bit further to secure sources of WVO, but it can be worth it, within reason.

Good info, thanks for that . I guess I should go out to some of the resturants around and see what happens. I just figure that since the price of fuel is so high, that alot of the resturants will have people already taking oil from them, so I'm thinking that I might have to pay for it some.

 

[SKimballC]

You gotta remember, most people are like sheep, gladly paying high pump prices without adjusting their lifestyles, much less going through the trouble of wading ankle deep in used fryer grease to make their own fuel. But that's a whole 'nother rant...

Don't pay for it. Free oil is out there, and unfortunately your options are limited due to the smaller number of sources in your area. The times are changing though. The days of restaurants paying to have their WVO hauled off are going fast, as now some renderers are paying THEM to dispose of it. Granted, its a mere pittance from what I gather, but still.
If you're going to get into it, do it now. All you need is a good source or two, and hopefully you can arrange a good relationship with them that can outlast the further BS of whatever happens in the future with WVO rendering. A lot of people think its great and even hilarious that you want their fryer oil so you can burn it in your diesel truck, and there's also a lot of people who will see that, however trite it may seem, its good that some folks are taking measures into their own hands to avoid the economical and environmental impacts of our gas guzzling ways.

 

[FordGuy100]

You gotta remember, most people are like sheep, gladly paying high pump prices without adjusting their lifestyles, much less going through the trouble of wading ankle deep in used fryer grease to make their own fuel. But that's a whole 'nother rant...

Don't pay for it. Free oil is out there, and unfortunately your options are limited due to the smaller number of sources in your area. The times are changing though. The days of restaurants paying to have their WVO hauled off are going fast, as now some renderers are paying THEM to dispose of it. Granted, its a mere pittance from what I gather, but still.
If you're going to get into it, do it now. All you need is a good source or two, and hopefully you can arrange a good relationship with them that can outlast the further BS of whatever happens in the future with WVO rendering. A lot of people think its great and even hilarious that you want their fryer oil so you can burn it in your diesel truck, and there's also a lot of people who will see that, however trite it may seem, its good that some folks are taking measures into their own hands to avoid the economical and environmental impacts of our gas guzzling ways.

Thats true man. Looks like I'll have to get into it real soon, its not like I'm doing anything this spring break .

 

[Timthetoolman]

My processor tank is made from bits and peices from work, we have rollers and seam welders. the conical bottom is from a vacume system.

The big mixer tank is a stainless steel tank a friend gave me, the cone shaped bottom just make a good settling tank and holds about 150 + gallons. I settle in the two plastic drums first and then settle it in the big mixer tank. I heat it in the processor for two hours before processing with the pump running, I have a 4 inch axcess hole in the top I can leave open until process time allowing a little moisture to escape.

I started with a 12 gallon processor from a small WH tank, once I prefected the process I made this 40 gallon job, works very well, even though it is tall and skinny I feel it drains better than big and round.

I can process 120L / 22L Menoxcide and still have room to do a 5% prewash at the cycle end.

 

[FordGuy100]

I got my first bite. Some women emailed me and asked if I was still interested. I emailed her back and said yes. We shall see how much I can get off of her .

So now I'm going to search the internet like no tommorow and figure out how to build up my processing stuff .

 

[Timthetoolman]

I got my first bite. Some women emailed me and asked if I was still interested. I emailed her back and said yes. We shall see how much I can get off of her .

So now I'm going to search the internet like no tommorow and figure out how to build up my processing stuff .

Go to this web site as well as others, it took me a lot of practice and many many screw ups before I figured out how to make the stuff.


http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html#1mixing

 

[Timthetoolman]

Oh, here is another good site.

http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/appleseedprocessor/

 

[bbressler]

I'd use some caution with the Journey to Forever site....a lot of their processes are NOT SAFE. The chemicals you use for biodiesel can mess you up if you don't respect them...

It's best to use an enclosed system -- water heaters are nice since they already have the proper ports, etc.