New cottonseed oil, easy biodiesel?

[moparguy]

I've been reading and thinking about biodiesel for a couple of years now with a goal of going into production at some point. However, I haven't had much luck in locating a dependable supply of oil in my rural area.



But, I have found new cottonseed oil for a $1. 00 per gallon (at a local cottonseed mill), with the possibility of . 75 per gal. oil.



So with new oil, how much simpler does things get. I could skip the initial filtering, but what about washing and a final filter of the biodiesel? If the virgin oil is clean could these steps be omitted?



My guess is I'm looking at $1. 75 fuel with $1. 00 cottonseed oil, that sound about right.



Thanks, RR

 

[DFerverda]

Just go to a diner, the school a bar or anyplace that fry food. They pay to have their oil hauled away and if you ask and set a barrel for them, they will use it.

The cottonseed oil will work fine. If you get WVO from the above mentioned places try to find non hydrogenated oil, as it is harder to collect when cold. If you want good info go here

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/groupee/forums Real good info on this site.

Dont skip washing, it will remove any left over methanol and lye and soap.

After initial cost of making a system you can get your price down to 46 to 70 cents a gallon using WVO and a couple hours of your time. Also on this site they cover SVO,

if your willing to change your truck somewhat, you can just burn your cottonseed oil straight.

I decided to change the oil and not my truck, as i think it is better for the truck in the longrun.

Dirk

 

[SHobbs]

RR,



I stopped using cottonseed oil due to it being thicker and heavier than #2 or the soybean oil I am currently running. The 12V inj. pump should be better at handling it IMHO.

 

[Headshot zod]

At a dollar a gallon, I would look into and consider getting a Frybrid waste veggie oil conversion with the 91 gallon tank.

 

[bighornram]

Moparguy; make a couple batches using the Dr. Pepper method . It can't be easier.

 

[jcarey]

Just to clarify: Bio-diesel can be MADE from oil, BUT bio-diesel and oil (vegetable, automotive, whatever) are NOT the same thing.



JWolf, great post. Looks easy and good for small quantities or as an intro into the process as a whole.



Moparguy, if you are actually going through the process of making bio-diesel, and not just filtering and pouring filtered oil into your tank, then you still have to wash the bio-diesel to remove the soap (glycerine) that is the byproduct of the process. Look at web link JWolf posted and you see why.





Hope this helps,

Jim

 

[WyattEarp]

Jcarey your correct on the glycerin, i have an aquantence that gets his wvo oil from a local store, he gets his methenol from a guy that is into racing and the red devil lye you can get at most hardware stores, the washing gets rid of the residue methenol and lye, the glycerine is simply waste. My friend uses and has modified his fuel tank on his M49 military 2 1/2 ton truck and has put in heating coils that are heated by the radiator coolant, he has run 100% wvo of course the military engine in those trucks are the multifuel and anything that has a flashpoint and oil base it will burn forever, it will burn gas but with ill effects if ran to long on it, basically its set up for battle conditoins which means if only gas is available they can get the heck out of dodge if need be. I have several eating establishments that im sure i can get all of their used oil for nothing, i just haven't had the time to invest in getting set up, then of course there is changing some lines as the wvo will turn older orings or fuel lines to mush after so long a period, the good thing is the wvo will clean out your tank and your lines, so when switching over to wvo make dang sure you have several and i mean several fuel filters on hand to chang out as it will get clogged, what im reading is at least up till the 3-4 tank of wvo then after that all is clean and no problems. My friend says he is averaging 4 gallons of wvo fuel after the process from a 5gallon container of wvo.

 

[ThompsonS]

I think the process of making veg oil into bio diesel is much easier if the oil is new, and never been cooked.