I'd like to second Quinn's request, Todd. Please share your diagrams with the rest of us.
When I came to the list to learn what it takes to process and utilize my own biofuel I was completely naive. Quinn has expressed eloquently how overwhelming it is, even to one who is generally handy, to find that it will be necessary to teach oneself mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and automotive repair/modification in order to achieve this goal. In all my years of rehabbing houses, it was relatively easy to avoid blowing up the building or burning down the garage, much less rendering my brain to mush. Whenever I've had to use a chainsaw (of which I am particularly afraid) I know that the worst thing I can do is hurt or kill myself, not take out part of a neighborhood. For some, scavenging what it takes to build a personally customized processor and learning chemical engineering in order to use it is a fun new hobby. For me, setting up a generic but safe, reliable processor and learning a safe, reliable process is simply a means to an end...about 250 gallons of biodiesel per year. It's not wimpy to want a generic solution. Isn't the world still a better place when there is one more person processing biodiesel...even if they're using a generic processor, some of whose parts were bought instead of scavenged? Maud St. Louis, MO >Todd, > >Can you make the diagram available to the list? You wouldn't believe how >phrases like "sealed gravity feed" can intimidate someone who hasn't done >anything like this before. > >I'm not at all afraid of taking things on-- I've flushed my water system in >my truck, replaced head gasket, altenators, water pumps, plugs & wires, >radiator, filters, etc; do plumbing, drywall, carpentry, wiring, tiling, >etc, in my house (all of which I taught myself with the help of books and >the fellas at various hardware stores)-- but this is new, this chemistry >thing, and it has a great element of danger both long term (lungs) and >immediate (fires). Its something I want to get right, at the very least >safety-wise. > >For someone who is unaccustomed to celsius measurements, who has to look up >"carboy" in the dictionary, and is a little unclear about methoxide pump vs >mixing pump vs (???); and whose last chemistry class was 30 years ago in >10th grade-- well, I don't think many of the people on this list realize how >overwhelming all this can be to tackle alone, even for stalwart >do-it-yourself-ers like myself. > >TIA, >Quinn > >BTW newbies: girlMark's 'Biodiesel Guide', if she's still got them >available, is an excellent resource with drawings, as is JTF of course, for >text info. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Appal Energy > To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; Keith Addison > Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2003 12:48 AM > Subject: Re: [biofuel] Re: Off-the-Shelf Processors > > > Randal, > > Constructing a complete biodiesel system is a piece of cake. For the same > money that you might have spent at some of the sharpie sites that you > pointed out, you can build a far more environmentally sound "cradle to > grave" system and still have enough money left over for a 3 week trip to > Tahiti with the missus, inclusive of a sitter for the house, dog, gerbil >and > goldfish. > > I'm forwarding a MS Word diagram to you so that you may see the full >breadth > and scope required to manufacture biodiesel responsibly in a > micro-environment. > > It's rather self-evident that reality is a far cry from the slip-shod > representations of those concerns that would attempt to sell "half-assed" > processors that don't even begin to address the process. > > Some of the "niceties" can be eliminated, such as mechanical MeOH mixer > (carboy mixing by hand with a sealed gravity feed to the reactor. --- > Don't laugh. We've mixed up 55 gallons of methoxide at a time this way >when > making a 1,500 gallon total production run.). > > We strongly encourage alcohol recovery from both the fuel and the > glycero/MeOH whenever and if ever possible. The alternative is not at all > attractive as far as the environment goes, unless you have an end use such > as http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_glycerin.html. With a little >common > sense a heat-exchange system that uses the recovered FFAs as a fuel can be > set up. That leaves only the recovered glycerol to find an end use for, > which would serve rather well as a binding agent in a sawdust log. That's >a > considerably better use than mixing it with gray water and land applying >it. > > Todd Swearingen > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 11:06 AM > Subject: Re: [biofuel] Re: Off-the-Shelf Processors > > > > Thank you Keith and Todd. > > > > I appreciate the benefit of your experience. > > > > Can I suggest that you are very likely to be hearing a lot more from > > people like me; sincere about getting off petrol, intelligent, busy with > > the rest of their life, not mechanical. > > (Todd, this does not "put us out of our right minds"). > > > > Obviously, "we" are ripe for buying poorly designed kits. However, I'm > > still not excited about, nor able to free up a lot of time for, > > constructing my own. > > > > Now, Keith said to have faith in my own ability and to get some advice. > OK. > > > > Is there a > > > > COMPLETE AND UNDERSTANDABLE SET OF PLANS, WITH PARTS LIST, > > > > for building a "two barrel" set up - 110 gallons feedstock per batch? > > > > If not, I am certain there would be a market for such plans. I would >pay > > $100 or more for them. > > > > How many hours should acquiring the parts and assembling such a >processor > > take? > > > > Randal Son > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: >http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Your use of Yahoo! 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