--- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, "bowlcole" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I'm about 100 gallons into this home brew game and quite
> addicted.
Congratulations! it only gets more obsessive from here on out.
But there's the environmental issue tht I hear many of
> y'all turning over, methanol is pretty nasty, ethanol a bit more
> friendly.
>
Unfortunately ethanol is hard to work with for most oils, otherr than
new oil.
I have been told that I can recover almost all of the methanol.
> is this right.
You can recover most of the 'excess', not most of the methanol. Out
of the 20% methanol we usually use, 1/3 can be 'excess' (varies
depending on the oil) that is not used up in the reaction. We DO,
however, need to have that excess present as a necessary condition
for the reaction (don't skimp, use the whole 20%, or more). So the
remaining 2/3 becomes biodiesel, and much of that excess third or so
ends up in your glycerine portion. It is easy to recover that
methanol from the glycerine- you dont have to heat the entire mass of
products, just the glycerine. Recovering from the bidiesel portion
takes more energy.
> Then who has made a still. I am pretty ready to start one out
of
> the 40 gallon hot water heater tank. NIce closed system with
heating
> elements already in it.
sounds like a good candidate, better yet (better still?) if you can
draw a vacuum on it somehow to lower the temps at which the methanol
will 'boil' off.
> Has anyone made a still and how much are they recovering? Can
you
> use the methanol indefinately?
see above. apparently you can reuse the recovered methanol easily.
> Also I've heard of someone needing to 'get rid' of some ethanol
> that's not pure. catch is they are only selling 1000 plus gallons
> anyone wish to go in on a tanker full? what are the risks?
Get very proficient with ethanol (in its purest most waterless form
you can get) before you decide on such a huge amount. This is enough
fuel to make 5,000 gallons of biodiesl I think. That;s quite an
investment. anyway there's good info at journeytoforever.org about
making biodiesl with ethanol- it's HARD to get consistent results.
> thanks bowlcole
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading!
Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/pDi3hB/OC5FAA/AG3JAA/FGYolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
Biofuels list archives:
http://archive.nnytech.net/
Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address.
To unsubscribe, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
