The Bio-Diesel Initiative - Pedal Station Orientation

In this LOST themed orientation video, Dr. Melvin Handlebar introduces the Pedal Station. One bicycle powered pump which introduces, circulates and empties the used fry oil mix in a biodiesel processor. Another bicycle powers a generator which charges a bank of 4-Trojan T-105 6V, 225Ah batteries. The batteries are connected to a 115 V AC, 2500 Watt inverter which runs the heater in the processor. It can be used to run the pump as well if human power is not available for it. Namaste' and good luck.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• LOST
• Bio
• Diesel
• Fuel
• Bike
• Bus
• Bug
• Merrimack
• NH
• New
• Hampshire
• InvenTeams
• Lemelson-MIT
• Program

[chemsensei]

Good estimates! The processor actually requires 2000 watts for an hour to run pump and heater (time to convert used oil into BD and glycerin). The pump uses about 300 watts. It should be possible to get electricity from the pump motor while it is being 'biked', but we haven't figured that out yet. We are working on 2 more of the chargers but three charging bikes would still not meet the running heater demands for electricity. Luckily, processing and charging batteries can be asynchronous events!

[Leetah36]

I don't know about the science (I think anything that promotes using renewable, cleaner energy is good), but I have to say I enjoyed how you did the video. That last line: "Never mind! Keep pedaling." is pretty classic.

[dieseldawg2]

Call it the "bicycle cycle"!

[Jessicamontminy]

"WHATTTT"

[dslunsford1]

A human can only produce about 150 watts continuously, but even a simple heater coil requires 1000+ watts and I'd wager that even that might be too small for your application. While the concept is great, I think it would be prudent to let both bikes crank to make the heat, then use a simple hand pump to extract the biodiesel when complete.

[dslunsford1]

Ok, not too shabby of a setup, but I have two observations: First, the guy who's bike was pumping the biodiesel into the plastic carboy wouldn't have a job after one minute (your biodiesel reactor doesn't go THAT fast!) ;-) Second, the guy who is powering the reactor isn't producing nearly enough energy to heat that waste oil, is he?

[merrimacktv]

First to view and comment. Mack TV likes this new one. Good job, guys.