>I have some questions regarding efficient heating of the WVO prior to >processing. In regards to Mike Pelly's conical processor and the >electric hot water tank that Maria Alovert(Girl Mark) describes-what >would be the most efficient way of heating the oil, and still do it >safely? Some designs use electricity and others use gas. Can gas or >propane be used safely around methanol? From reading on the >discussion board, Keith A. uses waste glycerin to heat the oil. This >sounds great...to be able to use all the byproducts, but is it >expensive or complicated to set up to use waste glycerin? For >beginners who have already made successful "blender batches" what >kind of processor would make a good next step? I appreciate all the >valuable information exchanged between members. Jonathan.
Hi Jonathan We use the glycerine by-product cocktail only to pre-heat the oil, once the process begins heat is maintained with an electric immersion heater in the processing tank. It doesn't need much, even in this weather (about freezing) the immersion heater is only needed for a few minutes per batch. If I insulated the processor it probably wouldn't be needed at all (recommended, but I haven't done it yet). The processor is fumeless and safe, but still, I don't want open flames around while there's methanol anywhere in the picture. Same would go for propane and so on: I know quite a few people use gas, but only to heat the oil, switching to immersion heaters before adding the methoxide. Another way is to use heat exchangers, with the heat source distant from the processor set-up - in another room, or outside. Probably best to use biodiesel as the heat-exchange liquid in the pipes and heat it with water; once the water's hot it won't take very much to keep it hot. This has been discussed before, there's information in the archives, and information on heat-exchangers online at Homepower magazine. We use a sort of Turk burner to burn the by-product. You have to fiddle a bit to get it right (use tin cans for prototypes) but it's not too much bother and it works well. Basic information at Steve Spence's site: http://ww2.green-trust.org:8383/2000/biofuel/turk/ Turk Burner If you want to be more complicated you could try building a Babington burner (also at Steve's site). >For >beginners who have already made successful "blender batches" what >kind of processor would make a good next step? Try this perhaps: Simple 5-gallon processor http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor5.html Simple 5-gallon processor: Journey to Forever Best wishes Keith Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
