Making Biodiesel Part 2 & 3

After making 32,000 gallons of biodiesel over the last six months from virgin and used vegetable oil and using the product in our fleet of buses, I am encountering a few problems that I would like to share with you. The biodiesel is being used in diesel pick up trucks, transit buses, small minibuses, and large executive charter buses. My name is Maurice Vanegas and I operate a large fleet of buses in th eLos Angles area.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• science
• buses

[Maurice841]

The biodiesel I produce comes out very clear. I produce 400 gallon batches at a time and the diesel will be in a bus within 24 hours. I water wash the biodiesel four times ( the water is put through a clarifier and reused), by then, the ph level is down to seven and we used it as is. I do believe that using a oil with low fatty levels does help this quick processing.

[Maurice841]

I actually ended up using metal pipes running through fuel tank (same material as fuel lines). System is working impressively well. The City of Los Angeles just did an exhaust opacity test on two of my units. Both buses had biodiesel and were well below the standard set by the California Codes of Regulations Title 13. What is more impressive is that the bus with the adaptation was 10% lower than the other bus even though the other bus is newer and had had an in-frame put in.

[hempev]

The solvent effect of bioD makes me think of how similar it is to soap - the methanol is the one difference!