Biodiesel From The Brewery

[fraser_john]

OK, been on a bit of a research kick on making biodiesel at home, basically you take waste vegetable oil, mix up some methanol and sodium hydroxide (becomes methoxide), heat the oil to 40c and then blend in the methoxide mix. Blend for a few hours and pump to a storage vessel for the glycerine to settle out from the raw biodiesel.

Now, everything thats needed to "cook" the ingredients most of us have in the form of a RIMS or HERMS system! Only bit to worry about would be the methoxide, not sure what effect that might have on some of the components of the brewery.

That said, we all use sodium hydroxide (well some of us do) as a cleaner every now and then anyway. And we are just cooking a bit of vegetable oil anyway, which can be cleaned out of the mash tun after the whole things "cooked" and pumped out.

From what I can find, you can cook up your own biodiesel for around 40 to 60 cents per litre if you can get the raw ingredient (used vegetable oil) for free, depending on how much your source of methanol and sodium hydroxide costs.

Kind of a crazy idea but......

 

[Simon W]

Are you able to use Ethanol instead of Methanol in the mix? 'Coz you're already making that.
Could be a good excuse to buy a still

 

[fraser_john]

Yes, you can use ethanol, but its a little more complicated and more prone to errors, the methanol is an almost no fail method.

Overall the idea is appealing, but I just cannot see myself making beer again after making truck fuel from the same equipment, means I might just have to go out scavenging again.

 

[Cracka]

Interesting thread. I'll be keeping an eye on it because it just so happens that I know a bloke, who's son's girlfreinds fathers, brothers son owns a cat :blink: . O and a still h34r:

Must be beer time me thinks

 

[sathid]

I've been researching biodiesel production for quite a few years now, and am active on a number of biodiesel forums, as well as a member of the Western Australian Renewable Fuels Association (WARFA).

I wouldn't suggest using your brewing equipment for making biodiesel. You really don't want any of the flavours from the oil (waste or otherwise) getting into your brew, and the risks of cross contamination (especially when using a heat exchanger) are just not worth the hassle.

The economics are also perhaps no longer as favourable as you have indicated, mostly because it is becoming more difficult to get waste oil, and many people are having to pay for it.

By all means, give it a go, but be careful what you read on the internet, because there is a LOT of misinformation out there. Also, avoid any products such as "diesel secret". Waste of money.

If you haven't been there already, www.biofuelsforum.com is a good australian reference for home made biodiesel.

Oh, and yes, ethanol is generally speaking, more hassle that it is worth if you are trying to save money. That is the area I have been researching, and it is much easier to mess up a batch. Not to mention that most people are not able to get hold of the 99.9% ethanol required for it to react properly.

Good luck!

 

[katzke]

OK, been on a bit of a research kick on making biodiesel at home, basically you take waste vegetable oil, mix up some methanol and sodium hydroxide (becomes methoxide), heat the oil to 40c and then blend in the methoxide mix. Blend for a few hours and pump to a storage vessel for the glycerine to settle out from the raw biodiesel.

Now, everything thats needed to "cook" the ingredients most of us have in the form of a RIMS or HERMS system! Only bit to worry about would be the methoxide, not sure what effect that might have on some of the components of the brewery.

Methanol can kill you. As I remember the vapor as well as contact with the skin can mess you up. Would not put it in anything I was going to drink out of. The sites I have seen that make test batches with food blenders say to make sure and never use the blender for food ever again.

 

[sathid]

I wouldn't recommend using a blender at all...

Flammable vapours and vented electrical appliances don't mix.

 

[hayden]

biodeisel is quite a handy thing to make, but you need a seperate area to make it, and there is a bi product you will have to deal with it similar to soap. but if you live more inland where it gets hotter, you can simply just use straight vegetable oil, after you have filtered it thoroughly. a friend of mine has been driving his toyota land cruiser on straight vegetable oil for about 2 years now.

 

[PostModern]

biodeisel is quite a handy thing to make, but you need a seperate area to make it, and there is a bi product you will have to deal with it similar to soap. but if you live more inland where it gets hotter, you can simply just use straight vegetable oil, after you have filtered it thoroughly. a friend of mine has been driving his toyota land cruiser on straight vegetable oil for about 2 years now.

Don't try the SVO option unless the injector pump is certified to run on straight oil. SVO can act as a solvent on older fuel hoses as well.

 

[hayden]

it is true that unless you check it out in the first place, but if you do go to the trouble of finding out if you can run without converting to biodiesel save alot of time and effort.

 

[joshuahardie]

This topic recently came up on autospeed
http://autospeed.com/cms/A_110008/article.html

In case you need a login to access the site i have pasted the test below

~~~~~
Do a quick web search under biodiesel or talk to biodiesel enthusiasts and you could assume that DIY making of biodiesel is cheap and easy; that its environmentally sound; and that all diesel engine cars run beautifully on the fuel.

But dig further and youll also find that the home production of biodiesel is potentially very dangerous; that to do it safely can involve costs much higher than they first appear; and that there are major question marks over car manufacturer support for biodiesel fuelled cars.

And then theres another (Australian) implication: all biodiesel (including DIY stuff) is taxed at 38 cents per litre. If the fuel reaches the required quality standard, you can get that money back from the government but few if any home producers have their fuel quality tested, an expensive process. Instead, they just produce biodiesel on the quiet modern day bootleggers waiting for the tax man to knock on the door!

Making Biodiesel

So what actually is biodiesel? Biodiesel is a fuel made by chemically altering vegetable oils or animal fats.

Vegetable and animal fats and oils are triglycerides, containing glycerine. The biodiesel process turns the oils and fats into esters, separating out the glycerine. The glycerine sinks to the bottom and the biodiesel floats to the top and can be syphoned off.

The process is called transesterification, a method that substitutes alcohol for the glycerine in a chemical reaction, using a catalyst.

The alcohol that is usually used is methanol and the catalyst is either potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (caustic soda, NaOH).

Biodiesel can be made in small or large batches: the smaller the batch, the more easily obtainable the equipment needed. journeytoforever.org describes the making of a small test batch of biodiesel.

(Note: the following process is described here just to show what is involved in making a small batch. If you wish to make biodiesel, you MUST observe very important safety requirements for the handling of these chemicals and follow a much more detailed set of instructions.)

Requirements

1 litre of new vegetable oil (eg supermarket cooking oil)

200 ml of methanol

either potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH)

cheap secondhand blender

scales accurate to at least 0.1 grams

measuring beakers for methanol and oil

half-litre translucent white HDPE container with bung and screw-on cap

2 funnels to fit the HDPE container

three 2-litre PET water or soft-drink bottles

duct tape

thermometer

Mixing Catalyst

Accurately weigh out the catalyst the amounts needed depend on its purity and also the characteristics of the oil. In this small batch only 3-4 grams are needed.

The catalyst is weighed in a sealed plastic bag to reduce water absorption from the atmosphere

Measure out 200ml of methanol and pour it into the HPDE container

Add the catalyst and then swirl the container until the catalyst dissolves. The mixture will grow hot from the reaction that is forming sodium methoxide or potassium methoxide (depending on the catalyst used).

Blending

Pre-heat the vegetable oil to 55 degrees C

Pour in the prepared sodium methoxide or potassium methoxide

Secure lid and blend for 20 30 minutes

Separating

Pour the mixture from the blender into the 2-litre PET bottle

Allow to settle for 12-24 hours

Darker coloured glycerine will form a distinct layer at the bottom

Decant the lighter coloured biodiesel liquid from the upper section of the container, placing it in a clean glass jar or another PET container

Testing

Put 150ml of the biodiesel into another PET bottle or glass jar

Add 150ml of water and cap bottle or jar

Shake violently for 10 seconds

If the biodiesel is of appropriate quality, it should separate from the water in about 30 minutes.

Washing

Use two of the 2-litre PET bottles

Pierce a small hole in the base of each bottle and then cover the holes with duct tape

Pour the biodiesel into one bottle and add 0.5 litres of tap water

Screw cap on tightly and then roll it about until oil and water are well mixed

Allow to settle and then drain off water from bottom of bottle through hole

Repeat the washing process

The biodiesel production process is then finished.

 

[joshuahardie]

article continued

Clearly the above description is not suitable for making large amounts. However it shows the type of process that needs to be followed, irrespective of the quantity being produced.

Making Larger Quantities


To make useable quantities of biodiesel, more sophisticated equipment than that described above is needed. One example of a suitable home unit is the Biomaster biodiesel processor from Australian company Bioworks. It can produce 150 litres of biodiesel per 24 hour period. The Biomaster reduces emissions of methanol and does not require manual mixing of the methoxide.


The company lists some of the features of the Biomaster as:

Ideal for used and raw vegetable oils
Self draining cone tanks
Approx. 1 hour labour time
Anti-vortex tank fittings
Centrifugal tank mixing
No pouring or hand mixing of liquids
Built in sprinkler wash system
Unique design catalyst mixing mesh
150 litre biodiesel production
30 kg glycerol production
2 kW/hr energy consumption per batch
The base Biomaster costs AUD$3245.


One person using a Biomaster is Jonathon Thwaites, who also runs seminars on home biodiesel production. His biodiesel plant is located in a backyard shed, has full local government planning permission and conforms to legislation relating to storage of dangerous chemicals and fuels.

Logistics

For every 100 litres of biodiesel that is produced, youll need about 100 litres of used vegetable oil (or new oil of course), 20 litres of methanol, water and a small quantity of a catalyst. So, to perhaps state the obvious, if your car uses a tank of fuel a week, to run it entirely on biodiesel youll need to collect something like 50 litres of oil a week!


This oil may be available free from your local fish and chip shop or restaurant, but it is likely that youll have to collect it from a number of shops. (Jonathon Thwaites told us he collects 40 litres a week from a high class restaurant but that some fish and chip shops change their oil so rarely that you might collect 40 litres only every five weeks.)

In addition, you need storage facilities for the used oil, the methanol and the biodiesel. These vessels must be safe for fuel storage (no bodgy plastic containers!) and must be located in an area approved for the storage of the quantities youre dealing with.

The glycerol will also need to be disposed of its biodegradable and water-soluble so disposal doesnt normally cause too much of a problem.

Take into account the sourcing and collection of the raw oil, the storage of the chemicals and liquids, the requirement (in our view its a requirement!) that quality and safe professional equipment is used, and you can see that making your own biodiesel is a pretty major on-going exercise.

Mixing and Matching

Biodiesel is often blended with petroleum diesel fuel. The ratio of biodiesel to petroleum diesel is expressed as B number B100 is straight biodiesel, B5 is only 5 per cent biodiesel, and so on. Biodiesel and petroleum diesel blend seamlessly.

Cars and Biodiesel

So having produced your first batch of biodiesel, can you just pour it into your diesel cars tank and head off? Well, yes and no.

Firstly, its unlikely very unlikely that your cars manufacturers warranty will be valid if you use untested fuel in your vehicle. Secondly, even if the fuel can be shown to be of high quality, the manufacturer may well not permit B100 use.


When using biodiesel, fuel filters will initially need to be changed frequently biodiesel acts as a fuel system cleaner and so more material will be deposited in the filter(s).

Some suggest that the engines fuel injection timing should be retarded for better results (and lower oxides of nitrogen emissions see below), a process that on diesels of the last decade will require engine management modifications and on earlier engines, skilled mechanical adjustment.

Rubber parts in the fuel system may be deleteriously affected by the biodiesel. This potentially includes seals and hoses. However, recent cars apparently do not have problems in these areas. (It must be kept in mind that low sulphur diesel also degrades rubber parts many older car fuel systems have had failures when petroleum diesel previously changed to a low sulphur variety.)

Despite anecdotal evidence of how diesels love to run on biodiesel, the only dyno tests that we have been able to find show a decrease in power or, at best, a matching of the power achieved on petroleum diesel fuel. This isnt to say that if the engine was tuned specifically for biodiesel (eg on electronically managed cars by the use of an aftermarket interceptor), the results wouldnt be better the cetane value of biodiesel is higher than petroleum diesel.

Finally, the emissions performance of biodiesel is a question mark. Some studies show on biodiesel increased emissions of hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen, but reduced emissions of particulates and carbon monoxide. However, how good the emissions are of a modern biodiesel-fuelled car (complete with exhaust particulate filters, a cat converter, perhaps urea injection all designed for petroleum diesel) is not so readily discernible.

Biodiesel Advantages

Biodegradable: not harmful to soil or groundwater in cases of accidental spillage
Is a renewable fuel
Carbon neutral, will not contribute to the Greenhouse Effect
Can be used neat or blended in any ratio with petroleum diesel

Conclusion


It initially seems a great idea brewing your own fuel in your backyard shed from vege cooking oil thats being thrown away.

And for people in certain circumstances, we think individuals producing biodiesel is a great idea. For example, we talked to a truck operator who is making 14,000 litres of biodiesel a week. His trucks pick up the waste oil (though it now costs him $800 a tonne; four years ago it was free) and he then turns it into fuel for his truck fleet. His biodiesel plant operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We can also see it working very well on a farm.

But those situations are very different to a suburban home producer. To be honest, the thought of people handling relatively large quantities of highly inflammable fuels and toxic chemicals - and doing so in backyard sheds - seems to us to be a series of disasters in the making. With suitable equipment, and appropriate fuel handling facilities and safety equipment and procedures, the risk can be brought down to manageable proportions but then again, the capital investment is also much higher.

DIY biodiesel? Interesting sure! But not for us...

But thats definitely not to say that biodiesel itself isnt worthy of much greater attention and use but produced commercially or semi-commercially to the required quality standards.

Contacts:

Jonathon Thwaites - www.sustainability.fm.uwa.edu.au

Download Jonathons DIY biodiesel seminar - see attachment below.

Biomaster - www.bioworks.com.au