I know the theory is 100l oil provides 100l bio after adding 20l reactant and then 20l waste. I am early days however have noticed 1st batch provided about 80l bio from 100l oil. Second batch went astray (after 1.6kg of pottassium etc) and i reprocessed with additional 1kg of pottassium and meth, end result after small wash and long bubble is very good bio of about 70l with very minimal surface scum to remove. Have checked my drums of waste assuming unprocessed oil may be there however all seems to be black waste. From my reasoning either I have difficult oil supply (pick up 25l/week from small retailer he replaces oil each week) or maybe my supply of pottassium is lower quality than expected. Is any one else experiancing about 70% return for good bio or am I the odd man out?
Cheers and very happy Xmas to all
Steven

My son bought a 1990 Hilux Surf with 2.4 turbo diesel engine. We found that the cylinder head, turbo and IP all needed replacing so we fitted a second hand 2.8 (non-turbo) engine instead. Once we had that sorted I did the conversion for him, including a Walbro pusher pump. We found that the pusher pump combined with the gravity advantage of the high mount veg tank resulted in a slight leak from the front of the IP. I removed the pusher pump and the leak stopped. Since then he has done 8,000 km on veg including a trip last weekend, Sydney to Brisbane to Gold Coast to Brisbane (x2) and back to Sydney. All went well on the trip and he was able to carry 9 cubees of oil and did the entire trip on veg. Yesterday he noticed a fuel leak on diesel. This morning, running on diesel, 500 metres from his home, the engine stalled and he had difficulty restarting, so he left it on the street and went to work by train.
This afternoon we managed to get it started on diesel by pumping the priming plunger on the diesel filter. We had to keep pumping to keep it running, stop pumping and the engine stopped. Afterwards there was a large puddle of diesel under the car. After about 5 mins we switched to veg and I pumped that primer for a while then stopped pumping for a while and let it idle. All was well except for a slight drip. Then he drove it 100 km with me following - no trouble, ran perfectly. IP comes off tomorrow and goes to a pump specialist.
I am thinking that the leak (front seal??) is so bad on the low viscosity diesel the the integral lift pump can’t keep up supply pressure to the IP. It is losing too much to the leak but constantly pumping the priming plunger was compensating. Switching to veg (higher viscosity) resulted in a lesser loss and more fuel getting to the pumping plunger and thus injectors.
So here is an example of an IP kept alive by veg.
8,000 km on veg has saved him nearly $2,000 and deferred the cost of IP overhaul for several months.

OR

Another example of damage caused by veg.

Hi new to the site…I am interested in svo but thought just running on bio would be a good place to start.
My 78 landruiser is tired and blows smoke when starting, should i clean the injectors first?
Do the fuel lines need to be changed over?

(automatically updated/inserted from The Big Biofuels Blog)

The European Bioethanol industry body has welcomed the EU’s plan to ensure that 20% of its energy comes from renewable sources by 2020, according to ICIS news.

(Disclosure: I work for ICIS. About ICIS)

The idea that governments will be able to work cross border, is for me one of the more interesting ideas. If this goes some way to helping liberalise the trade in energy across Europe’s borders it has to be a good thing.

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Guys,

I have a Toyota Surf - 3.0 Litre Turbo.

I had Fitian do the converion on it and he installed a twin coil Heat Exchanger (one of the round units) - due to space issues under the bonnet. Oil flow from the tank through the first coil, through the Fleetguard filter and then back to the 2nd coil then into the IP.

I run on a blend all the time (single tank).

I have been experimenting with different blends and still do not have something i am happy with.

My oil is cold filtered to 1 micron, settled for 3+ months in a sealed IBC and passes the HPT with flying colours.

I have been trying mixtures of ULP and Kero/Heating Oil to try to come up with something that works.

My issue is that i am getting heaps of black smoke at idle and in low revs - ia also getting a very uneven idle (almost like one of the cylinders is missing). When running at anything above 2000 revs everything is good. This is even after the engine is warmed up after 15 minutes running.

I have confirmed it is the mixture by running on straight Dino after draining the tank and within about 15 minutes everything comes good again - idling is fine, no black smoke.

If i do a 50/50 blend of Dino/WVO there is a bit of a “lumpy” idle but very little smoke.

Fitian examined the injectors when he did the conversion and said they were all OK, he also put through a diesel injector cleaner.

I have done an engine oil change and flush using CEM and this has made no difference.

Obviously blending is not a science but more of an art.

As the weather has gotten warmer i have gradually reduced the amount of ULP and am down to 5% now, and 20% Kero - could i be seeing some form of vapour locks at low idle or no load as the fuel is spending longer being heated ?

Is it possible for Kero to go “off” and lose its Cetane levels ?

I am gradually going to try reducing the amount of Dino and see what that comes down to before i get too much black smoke. I will then look at substituting the Kero for Dino and see what happens.

Any other ideas ?

Craig

(automatically updated/inserted from The Big Biofuels Blog)

Researchers at the University of Arizona say that salt loving plants might hold the key to 63bn gallons ethanol from non-crop land, according to Biofuels Digest, which quoted from Wired.

If this is true then it really is interesting. With one bound (or several faltering steps) we could be free of the reliance on high-quality land which we need for crops globally. Questions around the level of salt tolerance, yield and so on must be answered. But it could be one of those win-wins where it is possible to increases wealth for people who own marginal land. I wonder if there is any chance that such crops could remediate land that has become saline through irrigation.

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Hi all , after some advice on pumps. I have damaged 2 pumps in 5 mixes of bd, they damage the plastic housing connected to the impeller. The first pump blew a hole right through the plastic housing ” I think it is called the jet housing” the 2nd pump has just destroyed this housing. I am only heating oil to 55 deg C and use pump for initial process then use pump to recirculate bd in drying process. I am using cottonseed oil which regularly titrates between 1-2 , using koh. It is starting to get uneconomical to continue unless I can come up with some answers. Your replys are much appreciated. Mark.

(automatically updated/inserted from The Envirofuels Blog)

Westport Innovations and PACCAR Australia, the manufacturers of Kenworth trucks, have announced that the companies will develop and commercialise liquefied natural gas (LNG) Kenworth trucks for the Australian market. Kenworth plan to begin factory-installed production in mid-2009 beginning with the T908, K108 and T408SAR truck chassis and roll out across additional models into the future. [...]

Please click this link to read the full article on the Envirofuels website.

(automatically updated/inserted from The Big Biofuels Blog)

According to the Huaxlee website, China expects to make 5 m tonne ethanol by 2010, in a post quoting from the China Daily. It will be fueling the need wtih biomass.
This blog has noted before that China has looked at biofuel from a range of sources including biomass. This volume is interesting enough for foreign players to take an interest in the country. The Huaxlee story is potentially useful for outlining the Chinese biofuel strategy and giving details of how biomass is being used.

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Anybody had any experience with converting soap back to oil and fatty acids?