Producing Biodiesel with the FuelMeister. Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (YDSP) El Paso, Texas

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Clinton Golden
5 years ago
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1 Producing Biodiesel with the FuelMeister Ysleta del Sur Pueblo (YDSP) El Paso, Texas

2 Introduction Project funded through U.S. EPA grant Demonstration project Project goals Produce ASTM standard biodiesel Provide biodiesel for YDSP fleet vehicles Provide biodiesel for YDSP tribe members Educate the community on the benefits of using biodiesel.

3 Introduction Continued Biodiesel crew consists of Will Seigler, Michelle Cornell, Jose Lopez, James Leathers and our wonderful boss Amy Alesch. Project began November 2005 and ends September We have learned so much over the last few months. More importantly, the project has allowed us to pass our knowledge on and introduce the community to the wonderful aspects of biodiesel and its possibilities for the environment

4 The FuelMeister This is the FuelMeister set up we use to make our biodiesel.

5 Trials and Tribulations The FuelMeister, as we learned along the way, had some faults. One huge problem encountered was the pre-mix tank. Another problem was during the reaction stage we could not keep the mixture warm enough. Passing the ASTM standard test

6 FuelMeister Pre-Mix Tank One issue we encountered was after mixing the sodium hydroxide and the methanol in the pre-mix tank, the mixture would not flow into the reactor tank. We had to take apart the entire system to clean out the huge chunks of sodium hydroxide that had not dissolved over time.

7 Solution to Pre-Mix tank Since this incident we have mixed the methoxide in another container, and then poured that mixture into the pre-mix tank. This has worked far better for us, as the sodium hydroxide dissolves better with this method than just using the pre-mix tank. We had called FuelMeister about the problem, and their solution was to retro-fit ours to their new design. They wanted to charge us around $800 to do that.

8 Pre-Mix Tank This is the inside of the pre-mix tank after we had cleaned out most of the sodium hydroxide that had clogged up the lines.

9 Heating We heat our peanut oil in a 55 gallon drum with three barrel heaters. When the peanut oil reaches 135 degrees Fahrenheit we pump it into the reactor tank. Once the peanut oil is in the reactor tank and we start mixing, the mixture loses about 10 degrees of heat by the time mixing is done.

10 Heating To solve the heating issue, we wrapped the reactor tank with bubble wrap. This was the easiest and safest way we could think of. We had considered a blanket heater (used for a water heaters), but since the tanks are plastic, our concern was the possibility of overheating the plastic tanks and causing a fire.

11 This is after we had added the bubble wrap to help keep the mixture warm during the mixing process. Heating Solution

12 ASTM Testing We have yet to pass the ASTM standard test entirely. We have sent out at least 8 different batch samples for testing. Our problem has been passing the total glycerin. Just before this conference, we had received word that we HAD passed the total glycerin test on two of the samples we had sent out!

13 Solution to ASTM Testing We have consulted with many home- brewers as well as commercial companies. We have learned that our total glycerin may be an issue with the peanut oil. We have also learned that the problem may be unreacted biodiesel. We are still currently trying to completely resolve this issue.

14 Testing We Performed This is our glycerin test to see how much glycerin we should expect from the batch. These are samples we had done wash tests on to test for quality. These are examples of testing various amounts of methanol and sodium hydroxide. This is a mini-batch we reprocessed.

15 Putting our biodiesel into Michelle s vehicle. Using our Biodiesel

16 Will Seigler s 1984 VW Rabbit Fill er Up! Vehicles utilizing YDSP s Biodiesel Michelle Cornell s 1998 Dodge 2500 Cummins YDSP s 1997 Dodge 2500 Cummins Michelle s 1995 Dodge 2500 Cummins

17 Conclusion We ve learned the FuelMeister is capable of making biodiesel with a few minor adjustments. Mixing the methoxide right makes all the difference in the world. Heating is important to ensure the reaction can take place. Running biodiesel in your vehicle is much better for the environment.

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