I ordered two 4 pound containers of Amberlite from Utah Bio. I plan on making a tower that will take 4 pounds at a time.

I was shocked that I couldn't find any of the components I needed at Lowes or Home Depot. I have an honorary masters degree in "Parts Reclamation" (aka scavenging) so I then considered other alternatives.... fire extinguishers, oxygen cylinders, coffee decanters and hydraulic cylinders. But none are the correct dimensions, Harbor Freight had a few that were close though.

Rohm & Haas specs out that the column should be 10X taller than wide, should be 1/3rd filled with resin and requires #80 (175 micron) screen to keep the resin in the column. It has been written, so it shall be...

I originally considered using steel wool instead of screen, it would probably work great but I decided against it. Next I considered opening all the automatic transmission filter boxes at pep boys until I found one with a usable screen (1982-1988 BMW 5 series with automatic ZF 4HP22) but in the end decided the correct screen is cheaper.

So after all this I have the screen on order and am picking up 4" X 40" 1/16" wall carbon steel tubing from a local supplier. It looks like I have some welding to do tonight. Setting the screens in place is however a challenge in itself. They're too thin to weld and brazing metals aren't compatible, I may look into using nickel rod as it may be OK. Soldering would work too if lead is acceptable. Otherwise I plan to sandwich the screen between two steel circles and tack weld them together. The rings/screen assembly will be a light press (or push) fit into the column. Access into the inside will be via an access port on the top. 1/2" angle stock legs will be welded on to ensure proper orientation.

Properly metering flow will be the final challenge. I hope to simply use gravity feed and a ball valve. I also plan to experiment with small automotive vacuum operated fuel pumps. I have a couple different vacuum pumps/generators so regulating vacuum to the pump as well as restricting fuel flow may get me to the proper flow rate.

Details will follow...

Donniej,

I did the "sandwich between two rings" thing and it worked well. I like my results, although there were a couple tricky parts to it. I didn't weld them together, as I wanted the ability to take one of them off and replace the screens if necessary. I simply used bolts to tighten them to each other.

I hadn't heard the 10X taller...I think most people here go with a "at least 3 times taller" figure. Mine is about 9x taller (8 inch diameter, 72 inches tall).

How do you plan to keep the filters in place while still being able to clean out the media when needed?

-Scott

Handcuff is right, do not weld them together, any welding sparks or slag can easily burn a hole in the fine mesh screen. Bolt it together.

Handcuff;
The Rohm & Haas PDF file on there web site gives instructions for how to build a laboratory test vessel. It said 10X taller than wide and 1/3 full of resin.

I would keep the rings in place by tack welding "bumps" inside the tube to keep the screen assemblies in place.

B4ME;
You're right that it would be easy to burn through the screen, but with a little care, it's not a big deal. By simply being careful and covering the screen with wet rags, it would not be damaged.

DJ,

The 3/1 ratio usually heard on the web refers only to the resin bed depth to column diameter so if your accounting for resin expansion then the total column length would be 6+ times the diameter of the column. Closer to your 10/1 ratio.

However the 10/1 is for lab type columns where minimum bed depth becomes an issue relative to the fluids (biodiesel / mono alkyl esters) contact time (length) with the resin media.

So in plain terms if the test column (lab column) is 2" in diameter then the bed depth of say 5/1 would yield a resin bed of only 10" deep and a total column hieght of 20".

Generally the minimum resin bed depth recommended for biodiesel production is between 24" and 30" with 30" being the standard.

The difference is one of industry versus lab.
In industry you want to min. the cost of production (or resin purchased) but since your processing larger flow rates - a min. bed depth of 24" isn't a problem however you don't want to overkill by utilizing a 5/1 ratio.

Imagine a business which had a 3 foot diameter column - the bed depth would be 15 feet and the total column height would be 30 feet in the air not counting the mass amount of steel and reinforcements necessary to support the behemoth.

Although long and skinny columns are the ideal case - for industrial or practical purposes a compromise is made. Therefore the 3/1 ratio and instead of the 3 Bed Volumes per hour flow rate of the ideal column ratios most resin companies back off this to 2.5 BV's per hour.

Is that too much information?
GCG

Thanks GCG, great info there!

Right now I'm only doing small quantities so it will work fine. I'll refer back to your post if I'm ever able to substantially increase scale.

Hey GCG,
I have some pipe that is 20" in diameter... What should I cut it to for the height?? 60"?I have 40 feet of this pipe so length is no issue to me. I would like to have 4 columns.

\
Thanks,
RJ

quote:

Originally posted by RJ1937:
Hey GCG,
I have some pipe that is 20" in diameter... What should I cut it to for the height?? 60"?I have 40 feet of this pipe so length is no issue to me. I would like to have 4 columns.

\
Thanks,
RJ

20"x3=60" of bed depth 60"x2 for resin expansion =120" tall column.

One more question... Is the 60" bed depth before or after the resin expands? Just curious.

Thanks

That would be before it expands,"New resin".
-The other 60" is for the resin expansion.

quote:

Originally posted by RJ1937:
Hey GCG,
I have some pipe that is 20" in diameter... What should I cut it to for the height?? 60"?I have 40 feet of this pipe so length is no issue to me. I would like to have 4 columns.

\
Thanks,
RJ

Wow... 4 columns that are 10 ft tall and 20 inches wide.

That's a LOT of processing volume!
-Scott

Handcuff,

You are right that is a lot of processing and its also a lot of resin bed weight plus biodiesel on top of the resin support screen.

Were talking 1000 lbs perhaps. This is enough to compact the bottom resins.

How are you going to deal with this compaction issue RJ?

Do you have some of our Macroporous Resin or do you plan on using the gel-type resins?

GCG

Handcuff & GCG,
I really have not thought everything through and I have not yet built my processor. I just have that pipe available so I thought I would see if it were feasible to use in a drywash setup. From what I've read on here I believe in building for the future rather than the present. Seems people go to small then have to recreate in a larger scale later.

What is the difference between the Macroporous and Gel-type resins? Pros vs Cons?

Thanks,
RJ

RJ,

The 20" pipe is an awesome sizing for a small industrial or cooperative producer.

It could process fuel at a max. recommended rate of ~200 gph (>3 gpm).

However the 20" pipe will be minimally 8 feet and more ideally 12 feet and heavy to handle/support.

It will require between 450-550 lbs of resin whether or not its Macro or Gel-type resins.
500 lbs of resin will cost at least $3625.00

This 500 lbs of resin has the potential to purify 100,000 gallons of biodiesel.

In practice most used cooking oil producers are seeing 100-125 gallons per pound of the gel-type resins. And these are the reputable producers; operating the resin columns as prescribed by the manufacturers. Virgin oil producers are seeing 225 gallons per lb. due to the use of high speed centrifuges and non-existent initial free fatty acid content of the feedstock.

The centrifuge throws as much glycerin out as possible so the loading is ideal for the gel resins.

Large scale producers with similar feedstocks using the macroporous resins are seeing 250-500 gallons per lb. of resin. I don't have real solid numbers for the macroporous resin and used cooking oil but 150 gallons per pound would be a good thumb-rule.

Gel vs. Macro see this post: Compaction

and this post: Simple Amberlite setup
Let me know what you think...

GCG

GCG, Thanks for the info and the links.

I think I will pass on the 20" pipe and maybe go with 8" or 10". Would you suggest I go with Amberlite, PD206 or some other brand/type? I have access to a used ship centrifuge as well as a 300 gallon ss boiler to use as a processor. I'm 71 years old and a retired tool and die maker that would love to get this going for my three sons who run our 2500 acre family farm of 212 years. I have access to very good waste oil from the company I retired from.

Give me some guidance on setting up a system. Also in the links you gave me some of the statements seemed to contradict others...

First you said...
"We have found that after removing methanol to near ASTM levels (say 0.08% to 0.2%) and then allowing the biodiesel to settle 72 hours the soap levels are <300 ppm. Dissolved glycerin levels are say <200 ppm.

If we don't remove the methanol then our soap levels run about 2500 ppm (please note that are initial oil is only 1% FFA by weight to begin with and this greatly reduces the total soap content. For example if the starting point were 2% then I would expect 5000 ppm soap content prior to demethylation).

These numbers are important because the resin is designed to work economically at the 500 ppm total impurities level (since it is designed to work on only those impurities which remain in solution or dissolved - this is the "level of solubility")

Unfortunately methanol, since it is a strong solvent, it raises the level of solubility greatly and so it holds significantly more impurities.

If you have an impurity concentration of 2500 ppm then it will exhaust the resin 5 times faster than it is supposed to and therefore raising the cost of that resins use 5 times.

Right now, we get about 150 gallons of biodiesel purified per lb of our Macro-BioPure resin. This resin cost ~$7.00/lb and so this yields a cost of ~ 5 cents per gallon of purified biodiesel. If we left the methanol in then the cost would be 25 cents per gallon and we would have to change out the resin 5 times as often."

And then you said...
"Oh yeah!

The beauty of not removing the methanol prior to resin purification is you can go right from a 1 hour settling time or right from a centrifuge to the purification step.

And then when you do the rapid removal of methanol , since there is no glycerin, soap or catalyst, there is no chance of reverse reaction and no slimy soap to settle out for 72 hours.

Note also that we do cheat this 72 hours often to <36 hours since by around this time the soap content is often about 600 ppm and we feel that is close enough.

Also the PD206, BD10Dry and our Macro-BioPure require very little pretreatment prior to use unlike the Na+ form resins which are shipped wet."

Maybe I'm reading it wrong or am just confused(old age) but I am sure you can straighten me out.

Do you suggest removing methanol prior to drywashing?

Thanks very much!

RJ

RJ,

Yeah, I realize that some of the comments may seem to be contradictory because they are meant to be heard in different context. Unfortunately with out a lot of typing the context isn't always included (sorry about that).

In most cases, I highly advise methanol removal prior to ion exchange since the methanol will significantly increase the amount of impurities held in solution and this decreases the usable life (in terms of lbs/gallons of biodiesel purification).

For the home user who has somekind of centrifuge or very long periods of settling time: it could be cost effective to go directly from the centrifuge to ion exchange resin purification, with out methanol removal...

In this case the amount of glycerin may be below 1000 ppm (or .1%) and then the majority of the columns job will be to remove soap content. If you get your chemistry nailed down (exactly the right catalyst and very little water) AND the FFA content is controlled to <2%, then the columns effective life will still be finacially sound.

So from a processing stand point NOT having to demethylate prior to ion exchange resin purification can be very slick however if you mess up and send a high soap content or glycerin content batch through the resin, it can ruin its economics.

Our macroporous resin (Macro-BioPure)has been performing outstandingly.

Send me a PM for anything you need to know...

GCG

Hi Guys,

New here.great post! You guys must have a field day with somebody like me who fell for a processor company that advertises: "Make your own fuel, it's easy!" Just heat the oil to 120 dg. F, mix in methanol and catalyst, let react for 30-60min. and let settle overnight! Then drain off glycerin and filter through a "Whirlpool" filter housing filled with 1 lb. of purolite PD 206 at a rate of 1 gal/min and VOILA! You've GOT BIODIESEL

Whaddaya think?
BTW: this is from BeachBio w. dry wash "Technology"

Thomas

That sounds awful fast to be running thru only a lb of purolite. I run thru 11 lbs of macroporus resin then thru 11 lbs of pd206 at a rate of about 3 gallons per hour.

quote:

Originally posted by AustroTom:
Hi Guys,

New here.great post! You guys must have a field day with somebody like me who fell for a processor company that advertises: "Make your own fuel, it's easy!" Just heat the oil to 120 dg. F, mix in methanol and catalyst, let react for 30-60min. and let settle overnight! Then drain off glycerin and filter through a "Whirlpool" filter housing filled with 1 lb. of purolite PD 206 at a rate of 1 gal/min and VOILA! You've GOT BIODIESEL

Whaddaya think?
BTW: this is from BeachBio w. dry wash "Technology"

Thomas

What do I think?.....

I think you've been had.

There's several posts around here on beachbio (formerly Floridabiodiesel... gee I wonder why they had to change their name?) and none of them are postitive. If I remember correctly, the plumbing on the reactor is also PVC... a BIG no-no. The PVC will become brittle and split. As for the $20 home water filter from Lowes as a Purolite 'column'... well... it's basically useless. I've got 2 tanks set up in a 'lead lag' setup (just like the manufacturer recommends) with 75 pounds of PD 206 in each tank... and my flow rate is only a half gallon a minute max, also as recommended by the manufacturer. If you've only got 1 pound, and passing fuel through it at a rate of 1 gal per min..... you better water wash too.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Conspirator;
Glad to see that you've joined the resin clan and it's working for you. When done right it eclipses water washing big time.