Quote:
Originally Posted by notfarnow
Jurgen, that is really cool. I would love to see some pics of your setup. Where are you getting your oil, and what are you doing to filter & dewater it? I've been thinking about setting up a centrifuge.
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Hehe. Please let me get rid of some of the junk around the reactor before I take pictures, lest you guys think I'm some kind of hillbilly from Tennessee. Oh, wait, perhaps I am a hillbilly.
The oil comes from a bunch of small restaurants (chicken and oriental foods). You have to get friendly with the owners. It helps if you know the lead monk at the local Buddhist temple.
I only filter to 400 microns (drum filter) before processing into biodiesel. Dewatering isn't necessary unless water content is above 2%. Most oil I see is under 1500 ppm (1.5%), so it's ready to process as is. I have used a centrifuge for cleaning the biodiesel, but it's just too messy and time consuming. If I were running straight vegetable oil in the engines, I might use a centrifuge on the waste vegetable oil (clean and dewater).
All in all, I'm glad I started making biodiesel. It has been a lot of work, experimentation, and headaches. As I mentioned before, it can quickly become a hassle if you're not prepared to invest the time and money.
Jurgen