I posted in the 'Ecopure' thread that in theory any cellulose based material should purify biodiesel, if wood shavings do.

I tried it with shredded newspaper and it seemed to work reasonably well. I left some of the biodiesel sitting in the jar with the newspaper and went back to it today...the biodiesel now gives crystal clear water on the shake-it-up test.

We have to watch out for what the BD might extract from the paper, but I reckon theres a suitable type of paper out there that will do an acceptable job - maybe something more absorbant like egg cartons or something. Its worth a try, because given time it really does work.

Jehu,

I am very interested in your tests, I brought some Ecopure from Filterteknic a couple of weeks ago, the stuff is brilliant, but if I can get the same benefits from a different source and cheaper who isn`t going to jump.

I`ve added a photo of my own home built rig to use the Ecopure, it is easily scaled to suit most requirements, I only make 40lt batches of bio at any one time so this size suits me very well, if you scale up bear in mind that Ecopure requires 3.5lt volume per 1kg of product.

Front_view.jpg (31 KB, 299 downloads) Front

Stumpy,

I too am interested in this. Tell me, what is going on in your photo? What exactly is what and how does it all work together. Thanks in advance.

Troy

The Bio is poured into the tank on the far left, flows out into a old central heating pump, then split via a "T" so that the excess is returned into the first tank, the rest flows out of the pump at 1lt per min into the old Fire Extinguisher, through the Ecopure, into a 0.5 micron nominal filter (I used this just because I had it lying around, and thought I may as well use it as not), from the filter into a collection vessel, into tank.

Before all that I use my homemade / designed Centrifuge to remove any Glycerin etc, if you are interested see this posting :- http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/449605551/m/5941052342.

Regards stumpy

Thank you for that info. How much ecopure does the tower hold? Upflow right? I only make 60L batches at a time so something like this would work for me.

holeshotkid,

The Extinguisher (TOWER ) holds 2.5kg of Ecopure, Yes you are right the flow is BOTTOM to TOP as per manufacturers instructions.

Nice work on the centrifuge as well!

Also, I was reading somewhere that the ecopure turns solid when spent. Is that going to be a problem getting it out of the extinguisher being tapered at the top?

I googled Ecopure and got lots of hits about water purification using peat moss filters. Is that the company you are referring to?

holeshotkid,

According to the manufacturers getting the spent media out shouldn`t pose a problem, time will tell.


jdfoxinc,

Here is the link to the UK manufacturers site http://www.filtertechnik.co.uk/biodiesel/ I think that they have suppliers in the States.

Hi Stumpy

Fortunately I left the samples sitting, so Ive taken a pic. Bear in mind theyve been sitting for a few days now.

The emulsion in the untreated sample has cleared somewhat, altho its still pretty grim.
In comparison the sample which was stirred up with newspaper has clean water and no emulsion, and this is a sample from the same BD which sat overnight in the newspaper clippings.

I should point out a couple of things: there is a thin layer of dark stuff. Its not emulsion, but some sort of goo which has been extracted from the paper. This is why I say we need to find a suitable paper type. Second, the biodiesel came out green, due to extracting pigments from the ink. This sample was also clearer than it appears in the pic because I disturbed it by taking out some fragments of paper.

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Jehu,

What is your thoughts about using plain white (cheap) paper towels as an alternative? I still would like to add a resin tower to polish the fuel but am looking for a way to greatly increase the life of the resin by removing the majority of the contaminants first

Good idea about extending resin life. I would have thought blotting paper would have been best, but now that you mention it I'll try with the paper towels and post some pics.

The only thing about the paper was that it didnt clear nearly as quickly as the resin. Ive no idea how quick ecopure is. Maybe better paper will clear quicker than the newspaper.

OK, I'm off to try out the kitchen paper, as I have an unwashed batch sitting handy.

Yo!

It worked!

I scrolled up three sheets of kitchen paper and dunked them in a glass of biodiesel for 5 - 10 minutes.

herre is the first pic - you can see that the BD has cleared a little.

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Here is the second pic, with water tests on both the untreated and treated samples. The pics were taken only 10 minutes after dunking the kitchen paper in the BD. The samples were whisked with the battery whisk in the pic for a few seconds. You can see that the untreated sample is much slower to separate.

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The Ecopure cleans bio in a single pass, provided you adhere to the correct flow rates, in my set up I use a flow of 1lt per min.

The info about the speed of cleaning is from personnel experience, not just the manufactures info.

I think if you want to extend the life of resins and Ecopure use a Centrifuge, beats the heck out of waiting days for the bio to settle, and save money on filters as well, both for WVO and bio.

A few people have mentioned using hard wood shavings to clean their bio, would these be easier to use than finely cutting up paper (even using a crosscut shredder).

Ecopure works out at £27.50 +vat for 7.5kg and as you probably know will clean between 300 - 700lt per kg, this must be cheaper than paper towels, (I applaud your thoughts on the towels, just the costs would be off putting)

It would be interesting to see proof of other mediums efficiency in the purification of bio (not just the soap test) the aim for me is to make the best quality fuel I can at a reasonable price. (I`m sure this applies to most of us)

Stumpy, I like the idea of the centrifuge. How did you make yours? Do you need a lathe?

The towels wre treid just to see how much white absorbant paper would be an improvement on newspaper. Ive worked out the average cost of ecopure/litre at about 0.8p, which isnt much of an improvement on purabio. I think the regenerable resin seems to be cheapest dry wash in the long term.

PS - comparison after 55 minutes

paper3.jpg (31 KB, 129 downloads)

I was under the impression that these guys used magnesol as their filter media.

This is very interesting. I've got to get some wood pellets and give it a try.

I wonder if these ultra-absorbant infant's disposable nappies would take the crap out of our biodiesel

Anyone know what's in them - paper and silica gel?

Just had a better idea than wood pellets. I have several thousand acres of land surrounding me planted in cotton. Figure I could hand pick a few pounds after they make their first pass on the harvest. I'd try it seeds and all for starters.

Jehu, Want to try the wife's cotton balls?