Our group in MN has also determined that a 20" cargo container is the best option for a mobile Biodiesel plant. We have been quoted a cost of $750 to $1200 US depending on condition. The semi trailers we looked into were twice as much and would have additional costs. The solution we have proposed to moving/loading a loaded 20' unit is to have reinforce the bottom/sides with additional steel and using a tilt bed trailer for transport. In reality we will likely also be using the trailer for WVO collection as well and so hope it will do double duty. We are planning to use 265 gal fuel oil tanks as our basic unit for storage and processing as they are cheaper than buying the steel to make them. Just advertise in any small city which has been "hooked up" to natural gas in the last few years and the response is overwhelming. A small electric pump to transfer remaining fuel oil and some ropes and pulleys are all that is required for 2 persons to "pull" units out of basements. Sometimes they are outside and are even simpler to load on a small trailer. We decline or charge to remove the really difficult ones. We are planning on modifying them to be used as our WVO drop off unit as well. A 500gal Stainless steel milk "bulk" tank is our reaction vessel. By stacking the tanks properly we think we can transfer heat from outgoing Biodiesel to incoming WVO and capture that energy. The 265 gal collection tanks do double duty as storage of WVO prior to processing.
An alternative suggestion on transport of the 20' cargo container is to reinforce and build a subframe with rollers that can then be loaded and moved by a commercial "roll off" truck. These are very available in the US and very reasonable for transport and the dimensions of the "roll off" subframe is pretty standardized. They are used primarily for moving large solid waste and salvage containers. One of the advantages of using a low flatbed trailer instead of a roll off truck is that tanks can be added on top of the cargo container without going over legal highway height restrictions. It is fairly simple to insulate cargo containers...and regardless they are likely to be very hot inside so we have decided to set up all the controls on the outside and add a second door on the side toward the front to aid in ventilation and allow easy access for maintenance. Dana Linscott >snip< > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
