HZJ60 Guy
Tank Buster
Interesting, I must say I wasnt aware of that. I use World Energy stuff.
TB
TB
AltFuel Biodiesel
- Thread starter Jim_Phillips
- Start date
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I am thinking about running WVO in my 1hz through a second tank. i will probably only run it summers and the oil will be pre-heated by a water line (running the lines in a parallel bundle). I need to do some more research before i decide for sure but i don't know any place up here that sells biodiesel unfortunately.
The main reason I built my rig (a FJ55 with a Cummins in it) is to run biodiesel. It can be run in any truck with no real problems, at higher percentages there are supposedly some issues with it eating older rubber but to be honest, I personally am not too worried about it. Running vegetable oil (straight) as a fuel is supposedly better in indirect engines with inline pumps (according to Journey To Forever) but there is lots of evidence to refute that too... If anyone is in the Utah intermountain area we have started up a biodiesel co-op and are always looking for more Land Cruiser people!
Andre
Andre
HZJ60 Guy
Tank Buster
Ive got a 1HZ (indirect engine) I plan on running 25-33% bio. The trouble is that stuff has just gone up to 4.20$ a gallon here in the Seattle area.
Turbo (diesel) bummer.
TB
Turbo (diesel) bummer.
TB
- Thread starter
- #25
TB
Why not make it yourself? You seem like a hands on kind of person. A little time in the garage and you could make a processor. From my experiences, restaurants are only too pleased to have someone take their waste vegetable oil away. My cost per liter will be 10p (6cents)
I am in the process of building a 'reactor' from a central heating hot water tank. In addition to that, you will need a filter and a pump. There's lots of info on this in the Biodiesel forums.
Jim
Why not make it yourself? You seem like a hands on kind of person. A little time in the garage and you could make a processor. From my experiences, restaurants are only too pleased to have someone take their waste vegetable oil away. My cost per liter will be 10p (6cents)
I am in the process of building a 'reactor' from a central heating hot water tank. In addition to that, you will need a filter and a pump. There's lots of info on this in the Biodiesel forums.
Jim
HZJ60 Guy
Tank Buster
Gosh, maybe I should. It sounds like it might actually be fun. Since I have three turbo diesel vehicles too it would be cost friendly.
Tom B
Tom B
Tom, one of our guys who does it 40 gallons at a time figures it is about $.45 USD to produce a gallon at his rate. This does not include time or labor but nevertheless $.40 a gallon is great!HZJ60 Guy said:
HZJ60 Guy
Tank Buster
Wow, that's awesome. I wonder how long this stuff is good for? How long can it sit before it starts to go bad?
My main concern is getting it CLEAN enough so as to not mess with your injector pump.
TB
My main concern is getting it CLEAN enough so as to not mess with your injector pump.
TB
- Thread starter
- #29
They rekon it will sit for about a year before it goes bad. In colder climes it will sit forever.
- Thread starter
- #30
Just to update.. I am now running on 100% home made biodiesel. Performance is the same, engine sounds the same but exhaust smells a little different. If you have ever put too much cooking oil on to your chicken when you're having a BBQ, then you will know the smell I am talking about. It is quite a nice smell really.
The beauty of the whole deal is that it cost a 10th of the price of UK diesel at the pump. By my reckoning, if I am getting 25mpg, then the cost equivalent MPG for running on Biodiesel is 250 MPG.. Now that has to be worth the effort......
The beauty of the whole deal is that it cost a 10th of the price of UK diesel at the pump. By my reckoning, if I am getting 25mpg, then the cost equivalent MPG for running on Biodiesel is 250 MPG.. Now that has to be worth the effort......
AWESOME, i'll take an order of 10 US gal per week starting september, i wonder what shipping will be? hmmm..... 
seriously though, how hard is it too make? How much would you figure you have into the equipment? I would LOVE to make my own, just trying to get an idea of what it involves...
seriously though, how hard is it too make? How much would you figure you have into the equipment? I would LOVE to make my own, just trying to get an idea of what it involves...
pretty straight forward:
here are some sites to check out for all the details:
biodiesel.infopop.cc - best tech site around, good forum
www.biodieselnow.com
www.journeytoforever.org
www.biodieselgear.com - makes good processors if you don't want to homebrew one up
read up and start asking questions, i'll help any way i can and I'm sure Jim will lend his opinions as well...
great to see others excited in BD too....
-mike
here are some sites to check out for all the details:
biodiesel.infopop.cc - best tech site around, good forum
www.biodieselnow.com
www.journeytoforever.org
www.biodieselgear.com - makes good processors if you don't want to homebrew one up
read up and start asking questions, i'll help any way i can and I'm sure Jim will lend his opinions as well...
great to see others excited in BD too....
-mike
I wanna try mustard seed based biodiesel. Supposedly retains some of its pungency. 
But I know the smell of which you speak. And I miss it. Always made me hungry in shop class.
But I know the smell of which you speak. And I miss it. Always made me hungry in shop class.
- Thread starter
- #34
What follows is not a guide to manufacturing Biodiesel but is intended to illustrate how I built a simple biodiesel processor. If you want to know detailed information on all the methods of manufacture and alternative processor designs, refer to the links included earlier in this thread posted by Stickboy.
In order to manufacture Biodiesel you will need to construct or buy a vessel for holding your oil (either new vegetable oil or Waste Vegetable Oil - WVO). You will need to be able to drain from the vessel so it will help if it has a conical bottom. You will need to heat the oil contained in the vessel. You will need to add a mixture containing Methanol and Caustic soda (Lye) to create what is referred to as Methoxide. You will need to mix the methoxide with the oil. Finally, after draining the byproduct, you will need to filter and wash your brew.
After toying with various ideas, I settled on a domestic water heater (A). It already had all the holes in the right places, the rounded top (when turned upside down) gave it a conical bottom. It has a heater element for warming the oil and… most importantly, cost me just $120
After making a wooden stand, I then plumbed in a water pump (B) this is just a pump used in a central heating system and cost me $40 from eBay.
The pump serves three purposes, it allows me to circulate the oil when heating and is powerful enough to mix the methoxide with the oil at that stage of the process. Finally, by shutting off one valve and opening the other (valves cost $10 each) I can divert the oil into the filter (C)
The filter cost me $30 and the filter cartridges (5 microns and 1 micron) are about $3 each. I generally recirculate the oil thru the filter and then back into the tank thru the hose (D) several times. When I am happy the oil is cleaned I take the hose out of the tank and pump the biodiesel into a holding tank to dry.
There is another valve, that you can't see in the picture, that is at the base of the tank. This is used for draining the by-product from the process (glycerine) into a bucket.
The final stage in the process involves 'washing' the biodiesel. I have a length of hose connected to a tap and use a garden 'mister' to add the water to the BD which then forms droplets that gently washes out impurities (methanol and soap) from the BD. This water is drained from the bottom in the same way as the glycerine.
Like I said before, I don't want to go into the details of the process, just share an idea on how to build a processor. I am new to biodiesel and have only made 2 batches (of about 50 litres each) but this system works.
One improvement would be to use a sealed container in order to keep the poisonous (methoxide) fumes contained. I turn on several powerful fans and keep out of the garage until all is clear - be aware that methoxide is a nasty, toxic liquid/gas that you should take all necessary steps to avoid contact with.
Jim
In order to manufacture Biodiesel you will need to construct or buy a vessel for holding your oil (either new vegetable oil or Waste Vegetable Oil - WVO). You will need to be able to drain from the vessel so it will help if it has a conical bottom. You will need to heat the oil contained in the vessel. You will need to add a mixture containing Methanol and Caustic soda (Lye) to create what is referred to as Methoxide. You will need to mix the methoxide with the oil. Finally, after draining the byproduct, you will need to filter and wash your brew.
After toying with various ideas, I settled on a domestic water heater (A). It already had all the holes in the right places, the rounded top (when turned upside down) gave it a conical bottom. It has a heater element for warming the oil and… most importantly, cost me just $120
After making a wooden stand, I then plumbed in a water pump (B) this is just a pump used in a central heating system and cost me $40 from eBay.
The pump serves three purposes, it allows me to circulate the oil when heating and is powerful enough to mix the methoxide with the oil at that stage of the process. Finally, by shutting off one valve and opening the other (valves cost $10 each) I can divert the oil into the filter (C)
The filter cost me $30 and the filter cartridges (5 microns and 1 micron) are about $3 each. I generally recirculate the oil thru the filter and then back into the tank thru the hose (D) several times. When I am happy the oil is cleaned I take the hose out of the tank and pump the biodiesel into a holding tank to dry.
There is another valve, that you can't see in the picture, that is at the base of the tank. This is used for draining the by-product from the process (glycerine) into a bucket.
The final stage in the process involves 'washing' the biodiesel. I have a length of hose connected to a tap and use a garden 'mister' to add the water to the BD which then forms droplets that gently washes out impurities (methanol and soap) from the BD. This water is drained from the bottom in the same way as the glycerine.
Like I said before, I don't want to go into the details of the process, just share an idea on how to build a processor. I am new to biodiesel and have only made 2 batches (of about 50 litres each) but this system works.
One improvement would be to use a sealed container in order to keep the poisonous (methoxide) fumes contained. I turn on several powerful fans and keep out of the garage until all is clear - be aware that methoxide is a nasty, toxic liquid/gas that you should take all necessary steps to avoid contact with.
Jim
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #35
BTW, if the above sounds like a lot of hard work, rest assured that it is not. It took me about a half day to construct and about a couple of hours getting the bits and pieces together.
Actually making biodiesel is pretty simple and takes me about an hour hands on time + some checking on how its doing..
Actually making biodiesel is pretty simple and takes me about an hour hands on time + some checking on how its doing..
looks like a nice setup! is lye and methanol easy/cheap to come by?
- Thread starter
- #37
Buying methanol in a small quantity should be fairly easy. It is whats used in model aircraft. Go online and find a model arcraft shop and order a gallon. Of course, if you want to move beyond experimenting with test batches you will need to find a cheap volume supplier - the forums are the place to ask. In the UK I have found a couple of chemical suppliers. My methanol works out at about 30cents a liter. You will need to add 20% methanol to the volume of Oil - so a gallon won't make much!
Lye is available from most hardware stores. Its sold as a drain cleaner.
Jim
Lye is available from most hardware stores. Its sold as a drain cleaner.
Jim
HZJ60 Guy
Tank Buster
James that is awesome.
Thanks for all the hard work and good explanations.
TB
Thanks for all the hard work and good explanations.
TB
Mike and Jim,
I have been running 100% biodiesel in my 97 Dodge Cummins powered pickup for almost two years now and will never go back to petro fuels. I am planning on importing a diesel cruiser soon and running it on 100% bio. In your experience have there been any rubber fuel part issues on your toyota diesels? Should I plan on replacing the fuel lines with Viton?
Most of the posts here are over a year old... any updates?
I have been running 100% biodiesel in my 97 Dodge Cummins powered pickup for almost two years now and will never go back to petro fuels. I am planning on importing a diesel cruiser soon and running it on 100% bio. In your experience have there been any rubber fuel part issues on your toyota diesels? Should I plan on replacing the fuel lines with Viton?
Most of the posts here are over a year old... any updates?
zander,
gates 4219g or b hose. rated for biodiesel use. it's a synthetic nitrile and MUCH cheaper. www.jgbhose.com is where i got mine. if you need just a little i can sell you some too. let me know. i just replaced my hoses on my swap and that's it. we'll see down the road if any other issues pop up. i'll be surprised...
-mike
gates 4219g or b hose. rated for biodiesel use. it's a synthetic nitrile and MUCH cheaper. www.jgbhose.com is where i got mine. if you need just a little i can sell you some too. let me know. i just replaced my hoses on my swap and that's it. we'll see down the road if any other issues pop up. i'll be surprised...
-mike
