Sorry, another question about Eco2Pure.

I've read a lot about Eco2Pure, wood chips, and sawdust with a lot of interest. I would like to quite using water due to the water disposal issue. Sawdust sounds intriguing especially that it's cheap, BUT I really don't have time to look for and deal with another supplier and trying to work out logistics with them. So, I'm contemplating using Eco2Pure for the lead column, and Thermax for the Lag.

Using Eco2Pure's conservative figure of treating 42 gal/lb it would cost about 9 cents/gal. Thermax claims 100 gal/lb or 10 cents/gallon. So, 19 cents/gallon doesn't seem bad considering the time savings, water savings, and elimination of a waste stream.

Question is for those with experience with Eco2Pure and or sawdust, will EcoPure work as well as sawdust or wood chips?

Can I use PVC for both Eco and Thermax? The cost of towers would put an end to my drywashing aspirations.

If it helps, my plan would be to process, drain glyc., bubble for a couple of days, and then pump through drywash.

thanks for your help,
irokc5

Sounds like a good plan. I would use red oak wood shavings or sawdust instead of the Eco2pure. It has been rumored that Eco2pure is using red oak and something else that some have described as a porous mineral like substance -- something similar to perlite, but porous. I have never used Eco2pure, but it would make a nice experiment to compare that to wood chips. I think Stumpy used Eco2pure. Maybe he will chime in about his experience.

I think the shavings will catch most of the soap and then the Thermax will catch the rest. Thermax can be cleaned and reused with a methanol wash several times and then can be recharged with Sulfuric Acid further down the road.

Trust me you will like the wood chips

Like I said, I don't have time to look for a saw mill that will provide me with just red oak or oak chips/sawdust, nor do I have the time for more collection. I appreciate your views, but with all due respect, this is not about using chips or sawdust, I need honest opinions of those who used or are currently using Eco2Pure.

I take that back. Unless you know of somewhere I can buy quality red oak or oak sawdust, I'm not interested in sawdust. Not trying to be rude, it's just the job stress I guess....

quote:

Originally posted by irokcj5:
I take that back. Unless you know of somewhere I can buy quality red oak or oak sawdust, I'm not interested in sawdust. Not trying to be rude, it's just the job stress I guess....

I use mahogany sawdust, which is better than oak shavings. A friend of mine on the forum uses maple shavings and he gets very good results from it.

quote:

Originally posted by Jehu:

quote:

Originally posted by irokcj5:
I take that back. Unless you know of somewhere I can buy quality red oak or oak sawdust, I'm not interested in sawdust. Not trying to be rude, it's just the job stress I guess....

I use mahogany sawdust, which is better than oak shavings. A friend of mine on the forum uses maple shavings and he gets very good results from it.

Can you buy it and have it delivered???? If not, can we keep this post focused on ECO2PURE, I"m not interested in sawdust or chips if I cannot order it.

Again, with all due respect.

No offense taken.

I can understand being too busy to grab the free stuff. That's why some people buy the Biopro or buy plans to build something.

How much does Eco2pure cost? How much would you be willing to pay for wood shavings and how much do you need? If the price is right, I will plane the wood down at my shop and ship it to you.

Maybe you could send a PM to Stumpy and see what he is willing to tell you about Eco2pure. I think he has tried the shavings/sawdust as well and could be a good source for comparing the two.

It is a good question that Eurocab brings up; what is the Eco2Pure or some form of fibrous/shavings product worth to our community.

Filter Technik keeps asking us, "what do you think the market price is for Eco2Pure?" And we keep saying we're not sure?

My question is; how cheap can you sell it and make it worth your time to handle it and manage it?

Presently it is at around $3/lb for a tested and quality product but what does this add per gallon in cost and how much aggravation does it relieve the biodiesel producer from?

For us it is a reliable contaminate Knock-down product which allows us to go practically right from methanol removal to ion exchange purification and into our fuel tank. However if you aren't concerned about this then what is it worth to you?

That is the question,

GCG

GCG,

Thanks for chiming in. As I posted in the beginning, using their conservative estimate of 41 gallons per pound, it would be about 9 cents per gallon. I'm good with that IF the product performs as they say and would last at least as much as their conservative #'s suggest. The price is not bad....I just want to know from those that use it.....does it work???????? as good or better than sawdust/chips??????? Can I use PVC for both Eco and Thermax?????????

I've thought of another question....I only make about 30 gallons/month. Will leaving bd in the tower over time diminish the longevity and therefore not treat 600 gallons per pound as advertised?

If ECO2PURE is as good as or better than sawdust/chips, I will buy the Eco2Pure to try out first. Then maybe when things settle down in life and I have time to experiment, I'll try the sawdust. Right now, I have not desire or time to experiment, I want to reduce my production time because I have very little of it. Again, I'm sorry if I come across rude or snappy...

irokcj5

I don't use wood but....

What about pine horse bedding???? They come in bags you can buy cheaply at the farm and fleet or ranch supply and come in mini-flake or flake. 40# bags are like $10. Would this do the job instead of using hardwood?

From reading responses of others on this subject, pine may contain contaminants to bio, and hardwoods have properties that pine does not...
I really don't know though.

If you can get it, go with the hardwood sawdust, but steer clear of the softwoods because of the pitch and resins they contain.

There you go Irokcj5. Stumpy has used Eco2pure and he says go with sawdust. Just be careful with the sawdust, because sawdust can come from plywood, mdf & chipboard. If you use sawdust, you must be able to verify that it is sawdust from hardwood boards -- not plywood. I think the shavings will be easier to identify. There will also be hardwood sawdust in the shavings, so you could filter out the fines and run some side by side tests on the fines and the shavings. Maybe I will do that sometime in the near future.

quote:

If you can get it, go with the hardwood sawdust, but steer clear of the softwoods because of the pitch and resins they contain.

Eco2pure is mainly woodchips (hardwood i'm assuming based on it's low lignin/resin/water content), and a compound that acts similar to magnesol (aliminumsilicate).

I think the wood chips absorb any water present (while not expanding much/plugging like sawdust). The aluminum silicate i believe acts like a replacement reaction just like the magnesuim silicate in Magnesol. The soluble soaps in the BD react with the magnesuim portion to form insoluble soaps that are traped in the filter. the silicate is insoluble i assume and also stays in the filter media (woodchips).

This is my suggestion of how this product works. Any takers?!?!?


Bioguy15

Do not use PVC columns for your towers. They will work well initially but after time you will have to replace them as they will crack. My reactor has pvc piping and this is now starting to get brittle. Im using a water softener tank.

Also when youre pumping thru ur columns they will be under slight pressure. This will just speed up the degradation process of your pvc.

I am aware of some people having problems with PVC and resin in columns with larger diameter pipe. I am not aware of anyone having a problem with wood shavings or Eco2Pure in PVC columns. I have been using 4" PVC columns for a little over a year for both resin and wood shavings with no problem thus far. The only problem I have experienced in PVC is in the valves. The handles break off.

I use a whole house water filtration unit for one of my columns. The tank is made out of fiberglass reinforced poly. The only problem I have had with it is the head disintegrated when I was changing out the resin. Fortunately you can get a new one for about $40 and it appears to be a better head than the original.

I have been using Eco2pure for about 6 months on a small level. I process and burn about 40 gals. a month in my boat. I process with a 5% prewash followed by heating and spraying to get out the water and methanol. I do a violent shakem-up test prior to running thru the Eco2pure. I get good separation with very milky water. I repeat the test after one pass thru my very simple gravity-feed Eco2pure filter. After one pass the water is crystal clear despite a very vigorous stirring and shaking. Seems to work very well to me.

Helpucguy,

Thanks for the information. Do you perform any soap, or water test after running thru ECO2PURE?

How long does the eco last?

Irorkcj5

irkokcj5,

I don't do any further testing. I have in the past but my reaction and oil have gotten very consistent. I do run thru a 5 micron bag filter and then thru another canister filter as I pump it into my boat. I have now put about 200 gals thru 7.5 lbs. of eco2pure with no noticeable degradation. I had been doing mist washing and it took a long time and a fair amount of water yet never seemed to get as good a shakem-up test. Eco2pure seems so easy. After heating and circulating to demeth and dewater (about 2 hours at 140F) I pump into my filter which is made with a Rubbermaid trash can with 7.5 lbs of Eco2pure over a doubled up 80 mesh SS screen. The can holds about 15-20 gals. I open a plastic spigot to a fast dribble and come back later to fill the can back up. That's it-simple.