BIO FUEL??? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Hi all, is like to learn a bit more about biofuel to see if I can offset my heating bill in the winter. Any help, recipes or schematics would be great. Thanks

Tony

Creating biodiesel is a not an easy process. While I've entertained it I'm personally not in a position to start creating it from scratch, not only that, there are some legality issues surrounding owning distillation equipment in Canada. First, you'll need a heck of a lot of vegetable oil (80%) (used vegetable oil is fine). Secondly, you'll need ethanol (17%) and finally you'll need lye (3%). Those are the 3 main ingredients and don't think it's simply a matter of combing them. The process of creating it is dangerous (fire hazard and chemicals) and not something you'll want to take on over the weekend. I'm sure there are plenty of books and videos on the topic if you're serious. I just wanted to point out that it's not as easy as making a bike generator or solar oven. Extensive knowledge and precautions need to be taken. The way that I understand it as we break down the components are as follows.

Vegetable oil - sunflower seeds (or any seed for that matter with 25% or more oil content) expelled through your oil expeller.
Ethanol - derived from fermented vegetation such as corn or even strawberries through a 'still' (which is illegal to do so in Canada as it's basically making moonshine).
Lye - derived from hardwood ash

The chemical process converting the vegetable oil into a less 'viscous' substance is known as Transesterification. This is because veg oil on it's own in colder conditions won't work directly in any diesel engine. Biodiesel, being 80% used veg oil, can be poured directly into a diesel engine without any modifications making it very practical. Although, so I read/researched some time ago, they apparently 'degrade' the existing fuel lines. However, given the efforts, additional time, costs and hoops you must jump through to make biodiesel I would personally entertain using waste vegetable oil (WVO) directly which, if you're smart (and I'm sure you are), you'll be able to find for FREE.

If you have a means to burn diesel fuel for heat then it would be much more efficient to simply use used vegetable oil through a separate tank. You could get a solenoid valve to switch between the two tanks. In fact, you'll need to as you'll want to ensure the veg oil reaches atleast 160 degrees Fahrenheit before burning it. The way it works in my car is that it uses the heat from the radiator hoses through a heat exchange to heat up the oil prior to usage. Every car engine gets hot. Radiator fluid flows through the engine to keep it cool. The radiator cools down the radiator fluid. The radiator fluid flows or moves through a 'water pump' which is powered by a wheel attached to your main drive belt.

I have schematics I can send you for my vehicle if you wish which may or may not help with your heating situation. Either way, I'm happy to scan them and send them to you.

To Review:

Waste Vegetable Oil - filter it, heat it up and use it.
Biodiesel - Additional time, costs and dangers - although you can use it directly in diesel engines without any modifications to the engine.

On a personal note, I've been in contact with a chap named Martin Paine who uses something called (and knows a lot about) 'Black Diesel'. Black diesel is basically used motor oil. Given the right conditions, mix, temperature, etc. you can actually throw in used motor oil into the mix as well if not all on its own to burn through diesel engines. This is something I'll be experimenting with next summer for obvious reasons (abundant and freely available - energy).

This article from the university of Vermont may be of interest to you as I'm sure a furnace will likely have some different requirements compared to that of a vehicle with a diesel engine: http://www.uvm.edu/~cmorriso/AltEnergy/convertfurnace.pdf

To understand what you're trying to do, give you some additional options and direction - is it safe to assume you have an oil furnace fueled by diesel?

Thanks. I'll check out the link. Yes I've got an oil furnace. Burns colored fuel oil(diesel) it gets expensive in the north here and I remember hearing something about mixing acetone in with the veg oil to be able to extract the glycerin, then one final filter and your running. Haven't had much time this week but I'd like to make some biodiesel in the spring to learn a bit about the process.

Probably the best bio fuel in your area is wood.

I was actually thinking about that. I've seen an engine run off the gasses left over from burning wood in a woodstove. Might take a couple cords to go to town though. Lol

If you haven't yet tried passive solar, I recommend watching a few videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNViUsRCVU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXN_1Kf18_I

If you live somewhere unconstrained by neighborhood building codes, you can build some very large ones facing the sun's exposure. It's an investment that will pay for itself in no time.

Yes I've seen stuff like that before and thought about it but I can't do much here. Due to my living circumstances. But when I get my own place I will defiantly be burning wood and using solar along side.