Doc,
Some chaps here locally are making their own. The only problem with the
filter is that it cleans the gunk out from using the diesel and clogs the
filter, the first time of use.
Their not washing the final product but using as is. The water molecules
merely attach to excess alcohol molecules for disposal.

I don't know what the extra alcohol molecules do in a high compression
motor, but no one is experiencing problem in their cars. It may be a
different problem at higher rpm/ load.
George ( down under)

George,


Making their own?  Biodiesel?  I would be interested in knowing how long
their seals last. Especially the injector pump.

Our biodiesel plant is going to be leased by the city and they will take
over running it next year.  We have had great feedback with all the people
using our fuel but then again we prefilter it, preheat and as such de water
it, filter it again before starting the process. Afterwards we  remove ALL
of the residual unreacted alcohol and run it through a simple still and send
it back to be reused in the next batch.  Water and air washing for 6 hours
TWICE takes out all of the residual caustic soda. Samples are tested to make
sure no NaOH or glycerol is present.  If Ok then the biodiesel that is
floating on top of the water level is pumped off and run through a
centrifugal water oil separator and 10 micron  oil filter and then  put in
storage for a month before anyone is allowed to use it. This is  overkill I
am told but in this society one's reputation goes south fast if products
work only 99.9% of the time.  My bar is set rather high because I have to
compete with people who set the bar.

One big mistake of mine.  The paint job.  This week we have had the machine
apart sanding down to bare metal and will pain the frame with a tough epoxy
paint. The $20 paint job has gone to $200.  Caustic soda and methanol are a
nasty mix and in the testing phase last year we didn't have the vapor
collection system attached to the washing tanks yet.  The result was those
offgassing methanol fumes  dissolved the paint on the frame nearby. The
reactor tank and the methanol/caustic soda mixing tank are sealed and vented
to the stile because that stuff is explosive.

I was going the ethanol/KOH route originally but we found with the caustic
soda technique  we could recover all the water and make a nice (after some
adjustment) liquid soap, and refine the remaining 17% of glycerin to make a
good hand soap.

The latter two items are worth 4 times the biodiesel. But this is not a
business, it is just one of those projects a NPO I sponsor decided to
tackle.  That translates to the inability to say NO.

The project keeps some of the elder folk in spare change making soap and as
of next year it will keep a few garbage trucks running around the city.

Biodiesel made from used cooking oil is not the answer in any way to solving
a nation's need for fuel.  There is simple not used or neat oil around .
Nonedible new or 'neat' oil is  better obtained by planting marginal lands
with oil palms or Jobajoba as two of many possible candidates. Biofuels
(including ethanol) IMHO are on the way to stay with us, but it doesn't make
sustainable sense to take a food crop and make it into a fuel.  Of course it
is better to eat the corn directly rather then feed it to steers but I'll
back off on that issue since this is a rotary engine discussion I am already
pushing the limits:)

The next challenge is a small ethanol stile [Sp?] making five liters/day so
I can have some fuel to run in the test engine.  I am considering about 90%
ethanol, 1% - 2% biodiesel for lubrication purposes and the remaining  mogas
and/or other additives. Obviously there is still some water absorbed in the
ethanol portion. Not a problem in small amounts. There is water absorbed in
your gasoline fuel tank right now as well.  None of this is rocket science
and anyone on this newsletter can make their own fuels. Ethanol may not have
the BTU content that gasoline has but it does have some attributes that
allow it to capture and use a greater percentage of the BTU values available
to it. As Bill and others have said that would be a boosted environment up
high. To me in any case it is not a issue of which fuel has more BTUs.  I
decided on biofuels, the journey and then choose the airplane and engine to
do it in that order.  Lycontinental  have done long journeys on ethanol and
they are the fall back plan.  I suspect if the turbo compound works the
rotary can do it better and the T.C. idea is what keeps me going.

The bath house brick wall is finished and the final painting happens this
week.  Then I am free.  How about you Paul?  Did the 'one who must be
obeyed' release you yet?


Doug


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