The record keeping requirements that apply to registered producers differ depending on whether youre supplying biofuels to others, or using those that you produce yourself. Actually they're both poisons, it's just a matter of degree, methanol is more poisonous. Our first biodiesel Biodiesel is a clean, safe, ready-to-use, alternative fuel, whereas it's fair to say that many SVO systems are still experimental and need further development. Chemically, triglycerides consist of three long-chain fatty acid molecules joined by a glycerine molecule. And we don't use open containers for processing now, and neither should you (see Safety, see Processors) -- and mix the methanol in closed containers too. Judging by appearances More likely you just need a little more practice, especially with accurate measurements. http://snipurl.com/j94f We used phenolphthalein solution when we started making biodiesel in 1999. In some circumstances it may be impractical or unreasonable to do so, therefore de minimis limits may apply to certain transactions. Using KOH Two of the tins were solidified, the other two held a gloppy semi-liquid. The excise duty point for biofuels is the time when theyre: Set aside means the point at which its decided that the product is going to be used as a motor fuel. However, there's a lot to be said for the GREAT feeling of independence you'll get from making your own fuel. The best way is to fit a professional single-tank SVO system with replacement injectors and glowplugs optimised for vegetable oil, as well as fuel heating. Replace the bung and screw on the cap tightly. I pump WVO out of the settled barrel from the top 3/4. The methanol in unwashed biodiesel doesn't "make a great fuel anyway". Unlike biodiesel, which runs in any diesel without modification, you have to modify the engine to use SVO. Much more information on straight vegetable oil systems here. The reaction started immediately, the mixture rapidly transforming into a clear, golden liquid. Chemicals needed ETBE produced from synthetic ethanol is a fuel substitute liable for duty at the rate for unleaded petrol. Short of vacuum, start with heating the oil to 60 deg C and settling it, as Aleks Kac recommends, and if that doesn't give satisfactory results, try boiling the water off, as Mike Pelly recommends. Then try a small 1-litre test batch first. If you don't have a stirrer, don't cut the lids off the wash bottles. The rest stays in the biodiesel and is washed out when you wash the fuel, mostly with the first wash. Reclaiming it costs more energy than it's worth -- the first wash-water probably won't contain more than 5-6% methanol (as well as a little sodium or potassium and some soap). He's a tinkerer, and came up with an elaborate filtering/dewatering system. (See Methanol suppliers) Fiction: A European SVO fuel website using similar anti-biodiesel tactics claims: "Biodiesel is a chemically altered plant oil. The first five times we did this, using 10 litres of waste oil each time, we got biodiesel (a bit darker than the new oil product) and glycerine three times, and twice we got jelly. Make sure you followed the instructions exactly. Many people filter their WVO before making biodiesel, but filtering takes time and energy, and there's really no need to filter it. Many not only titrate the oil every time to calculate the right amount of lye to use, they also do "bracket" tests in sequence, followed by wash tests. Many thousands of biodiesel homebrewers worldwide have been using it for years without serious mishap. The methanol in unwashed biodiesel doesn't "make a great fuel anyway". Wimmer (1992a) blended 27.8 g of KOH, 240 L of methanol and 1618 kg of unrefined rape oil and stirred it for 20 min. Free water is the easiest to remove. The process that allows oils to be moved or stored without paying excise duty. He's a tinkerer, and came up with an elaborate filtering/dewatering system. Low levels of release would not be expected to result in adverse environmental effects. If the weather is cold, warming the oil first helps for mixing as well as settling: pre-heat to about 30 deg C (86 deg F). Yet people have survived doses of 10 times as much -- a quarter of a litre, half a pint -- without any permanent harm. KOH is easier to use, and it does a better job -- KOH is a better catalyst all-round than NaOH. The net benefit depends on how much energy is used in production cultivation, use of fertilisers, harvesting, transport to theprocessing plant, and manufacturing. The "bottoms" are resettled the same way, first in 18-litre metal cans. (As the mixture cools it will contract and you might have to let some more air into the bottle later.) Most cases were caused by drinking badly made moonshine, which is a worldwide problem. Spanish However the process to chemically change the structure of Pure Plant Oil is a very costly operation and requires a lot of energy, as it removes the glycerine substituting it by methanol as well as adding other chemicals, making the end-product poisonous and equally hazardous as fossil diesel fuel." "I am a pipe welder who knew nothing about chemistry but I have learned a lot from this website. Any strength of KOH from 85% or stronger will work. There's a fair chance you'd just be picking up someone else's bad habits. You don't need a centrifuge. One didn't even know what the methanol test was. > His main argument seemed to be against losing the energy in Again, people want to "speed up" the process by using a centrifuge instead of settling (or instead of washing, in some cases). Stir-washing. Question: How much does it take to kill you? Methanol is a normal growth substrate for many soil microorganisms, which completely degrade methanol to carbon dioxide and water. Phenolphthalein lasts about a year. Don't use Drano or ZEP drain-cleaners or equivalents with blue or purple granules or any-coloured granules, it's only about half NaOH and it contains aluminium -- it won't work for biodiesel. Make your own biodiesel The first five times we did this, using 10 litres of waste oil each time, we got biodiesel (a bit darker than the new oil product) and glycerine three times, and twice we got jelly. Don't use Drano or ZEP drain-cleaners or equivalents with blue or purple granules or any-coloured granules, it's only about half NaOH and it contains aluminium -- it won't work for biodiesel. It is charged at a specific rate on the quantity and description of products delivered to home use. See Scaling up. NaOH is used as a drain-cleaner and you can also get it from hardware stores. CAUTION: No A common warning is that biodiesel, especially 100% biodiesel, will rot any natural or butyl rubber parts in the fuel system, whether fuel lines or injector pump seals, and that they must first be replaced with resistant parts made of Viton. Water mixed with oil will not boil at the same temperature and pressure as pure water. The drum has a bottom drain fitted with a 6"-high 3/4" standpipe (15cm-high x 1.9cm), which leaves any sediment on the bottom of the drum undisturbed. The normal background-level quantities of methanol in humans are eliminated and replenished all the time as a matter of course. Pre-heat the oil to 55 deg C (130 deg F) and pour it into the blender. Start off with a new fuel filter. Safety Few solutions are ideal, in terms of Raoult's law, and in used vegetable oil, there is no way to know what solutes are in the oil. You can find more information on tied oils in Get relief for mineral oil put to certain uses (Excise Notice 184A). Will the engine last as long with SVO? Unlike biodiesel, which runs in any diesel without modification, you have to modify the engine to use SVO. The following paragraph has the force of law. Most people use a pH meter or phenolphthalein solution, and that's what we recommend. Mike Pelly's recipe In the case of bioblend produced with rebated gas oil, the: biodiesel component is subject to the rebated biodiesel rate of duty, gas oil component is subject to the rebated gas oil rate of duty. By appearance, best to worst, left to right Mike Pelly's recipe Note however that the authors of Methanol Production and Use caution that the application of methanol to crops still requires further study before we all "rush out to spray methanol". Pour the biodiesel into one of the wash bottles. Now it's easy to make high-quality biodiesel every time without fail. Add 2 drops of phenolphthalein solution. Gloves should be chemical-proof with cuffs that can be pulled up over long sleeves -- no shorts or sandals. No need to filter it. See Safety He's a tinkerer, and came up with an elaborate filtering/dewatering system. Methanol is eliminated from the body as a normal matter of course via the urine and exhaled air and by metabolism. Don't use "open" reactors -- biodiesel processors should be closed to the atmosphere, with no fumes escaping. If in collection you keep ahead of your processing rate, oil has a chance to settle. Ethanol (A cubie is the 4.5 gal (17.7L) plastic container that veg oil is delivered to restaurants in.) People often want to "speed up" the process in the hopes of making it more efficient, and that often means taking short-cuts with settling times. Neither of them is making quality biodiesel, in fact they are teaching everyone else how to make poor-quality biodiesel. The marking requirements for rebated bioblend produced with gas oil are as though the mixture consisted entirely of gas oil. Will the engine last as long with SVO? Don't use Drano or ZEP drain-cleaners or equivalents with blue or purple granules or any-coloured granules, it's only about half NaOH and it contains aluminium -- it won't work for biodiesel. HMRC will contact you and send you monthly returns if in the last 12 months youve produced, or expect to produce in the next 12 months, 450,000 litres or more of: If youre a large producer who has produced less than 450,000 litres in the last 12 months and you do not expect to exceed the amount in the next 12 months, you should contact the MORC helpline. Two of the tins were solidified, the other two held a gloppy semi-liquid. Removing the water If special energy products and bioethanol intended for the production of bioethanol blend are delivered direct to an excise warehouse, then duty may be suspended until the product leaves the warehouse. The "bottoms" are resettled the same way, first in 18-litre metal cans. The Biofuels and Other Fuel Substitutes (Payment of Excise Duties, etc) Regulations 2004, Regulation 10 and11. Phenolphthalein lasts about a year. Keith checks the pH of the waste oil. These additives are not a concern, they have no effect on the biodiesel process or the quality of the fuel. On the other hand, biodiesel comes from natural oils like animal fats and soybean. In a smaller beaker, dissolve 1 ml of the oil to be tested in 10 ml of pure isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol). Anyway you have to process SVO too, especially WVO (waste vegetable oil, also called UCO, used cooking oil), which many people with SVO systems use because it's cheap or free for the taking. Have a bottle of vinegar handy to neutralise any lye or methoxide you may get on your skin -- rinse it off with vinegar, then rinse thoroughly with water. Have a bottle of vinegar handy to neutralise any lye or methoxide you may get on your skin -- rinse it off with vinegar, then rinse thoroughly with water. The minimum lethal dose of methanol in the absence of medical treatment is put at between 0.3 and 1 g/kg. If it's still not crackling by 60-65 deg C (140-149 deg F) there should be no need to dewater it. Chemicals for processing waste oil See: Phenolphthalein Otherwise using vegetable oil as fuel requires a professional SVO solution -- or convert the veg-oil biodiesel. Methanol is the main or only ingredient in barbecue fuel or fondue fuel, sold in supermarkets and chain stores as "stove fuel" and used at the dinner table. -- Tom Kelly, Biofuel mailing list, April 2006 Fact: Human susceptibility to the acute effects of methanol intoxication is extremely variable. (Don't worry that you seem to be adding millilitres to grams, that's the way it works.) The mixture gets quite hot at first, but the container is kept closed and no fumes escape. Glycerine pre-wash The droplets are removed most efficiently by coalescing and draining. With care and experience the production rate improves. In fact life is already easier -- people who start off making 40-gallon batches often never learn the accuracy and discipline that comes from making one-litre test batches first. The claim should then be sent, together with any supporting documentation, to the MORC address. Add 2 drops of phenolphthalein solution. Settling the oil works just as well or better, and if it contains any water the water will settle out too. Don't use "open" reactors -- biodiesel processors should be closed to the atmosphere, with no fumes escaping. Well also advise you about how you may account for any extra duty that may be outstanding. Don't be put off or frightened away by titration. Quite so. See Accurate measurements Extra washing and settling tanks also help. The ethyl esters (biodiesel) were located in the upper phase, with some traces of non-reacted oil, monoglycerides, diglycerides and a small amount of ethanol. http://snipurl.com/j94e pH test strips are less accurate than pH meters or phenolphthalein. Use an electronic pH meter or phenolphthalein solution (from a chemicals supplier). Biofuels Library Keep a Biodiesel Journal -- make notes, keep records. So get it in perspective: be careful with these chemicals -- be careful with ALL chemicals -- but there's no need to be frightened of them. Using biodiesel Washing See Mike Pelly's recommendations: Removing the water. Here's what Biofuel mailing list member Dale Scroggins says about water removal: This oil is very clear and requires very little drying. Centrifuges Congratulations! Acrobat file, 2.1Mb: Which oil is best? Fact: 30 litres of fruit juice will probably contain up to 20 grams of methanol, near the official minimum lethal dose. Cooking oil producers and retailers who supply direct to fuel producers and distributors are not liable for duty unless they have set aside all or part of their production as motor fuel. 7. The main danger is when the methanol is hot -- when it's cold or at "room temperature" it fumes very little if at all and it's easily avoided, just keep it at arm's length whenever you open the container. No need to filter it. Only a supplied-air system will do (SCBA -- Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). Our first titration took 6 ml of 0.1% NaOH solution (not very good oil), so we used 6 + 3.5 = 9.5 grams of NaOH per litre of oil. Read Your Charter to find out what you can expect from HMRC and what we expect from you. People often want to "speed up" the process in the hopes of making it more efficient, and that often means taking short-cuts with settling times. 9. It's not unusual. As with filtering, if you want more production get a bigger processor, or run two processors in parallel, add more settling and washing tanks. Getting rid of his filtering setup has made room for a settling tank. Methanol is of low toxicity to aquatic and terrestrial organisms and it is not bioaccumulated. I repeatedly suggested that he trust gravity. And as a bonus, most of the catalyst ends up in the glycerine cocktail so it neutralizes the Free Fatty Acids (FFAs) in the waste oil. Biodiesel is a good solvent -- it tends to free the dirt and clean it out. Heating the oil to reaction temperature (I use 58 deg C, 136 deg F) and pulling a vacuum to 27 inches of mercury immediately before the reaction has allowed me to remove water beyond what falls out by heating alone. 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