All,

I purchased a bucket heater with the intent of heating up the BD while spray drying. The sticker on the heater says "Not for Biodiesel"...Is it a fire hazard, i.e. heating coil will ignight BD? I wished that informatio would have been on the website I ordered from.

Also, I used a plastic drum for my drying drum, how hot can liquid be using plastic drum? Am I better off using metal drum with band heater?

thanks in advanced.

I don't know the specific reason why the manufacuter says not to use with Biodiesel but I am currently using one. It seems to work just fine. I am also drying in a polly drum. The HDPP drums can withstand quite a bit of heat on up towards boiling but in my experiences that much heat is not necessary simply for drying. I can spray dry 40 gallons in about 3 hours and the BD never gets much above 100 degrees. I don't have any experience with band heaters but if you are concerned about the bucket heater try making a "Heat Spear" with a water heater element. They work great and can heat a good amount of WVO or BD quickly.

Thanks for the info. Only 100 degrees? What is your ambient temperatures? I'm in south Louisiana (somewhere in the swamp). My BD was 92*F while in the shade of my shop (ambient Temp.), when I rolled it to the edge of the door to let the sun hit it, it heated to 115F within the 2 hours of drying...I wanted to get the BD to about 140-160 to help dry thoroughly.
Again, thanks for the reply. It helps to know someone is using it for that purpose.

If you bought a Allied bucket heater just heat the bd then do the spray drying. I take the bd up to 120f but the air is very dry here. Also don't stick the heater all the way in, just the metal parts.

Your right 120 to 130 would probrably be more accurate. Raften was right about the metal parts. I let mine get completely submerged a few times and the plastic parts are showing some wear. Do you use a fan to blow the BD as it is being sprayed?

No fan...yet...the day I dried it was a good breeze and it sits at the edge of the roll up door (can't wait to have a pad built so I can roll it all the way outside). So air flow was pretty good. I was surprised it heated to 115, but again, I like to get well above ambient.

Raften, when you place the heater in, are you saying that you don't circulate? Wouldn't that burn the BD or worse start a fire?

My heater spear in the drying drum (steel) takes the wet BD over 200 degrees when I let it. I use the spear in the poly wash drum as well. The spear is waterproof and oil proof too. Doesn't burn or catch fire, lots of thermal circulation going on while heating. I spray dry with a fan. Works great! HTH
Here's a picture of a completed one.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Joe_M,

irok, I don't use the Allied anymore since mine quit working but no it won't heat too much or cause a fire. I use something else that does the same job but if I described it the bad news guys would have a field day with it.

You can't go wrong if you get one of Joe's heat spear adapters.

I'll second the vote for the Joe_M heat spear!

Works like a charm!!

irokcj5 - I've had no problems with the Allied bucket heater and have used one to heat my BD to between 120 and 130 for drying for about 15 batches now. I also have the poly 55 gal drum for my wash / dry tank with a forced air blower and vent fan to draw dry air though the BD fan spray. Once I reach 125F I shut the bucket heater off, leave the fan on and just spray for about 1-2 hours max. I continually see finished BD at or below the AST 500 PPM level. So far the plastic parts on the heater seem to be holding up well but I always check it before use.

The testing we have done shows us a poly 30 gal drum handled 225 deg f with no ill effects.
Not recommended! 3 drop in 1000 watt bucket heaters and about 2 hrs to reach these temps.
Routinely heat the poly prep barrels to 160 deg f.
My thought is the danger comes from handling that hot of liquid, such as when pumping to pre-filter or into the reactor. Better be certain connections are tight, valves are in the right position and hose/pump are compatible with the much heat.
Sometimes we heat to 160 deg f to pre-filter and sometimes just enough to get it liquid to transfer to the reactor and then finish heating the oil in the reactor.
I have had several bucket heaters fail, may have been due to the high heat and/or allowing them to sit submerged in Biodiesel.
I had a conversation with the owner of Allied and it did not go well! "NOT DESIGNED FOR OIL" he yelled along with a few other quotes and something about my intelligence level....
Oh well, I am still safe after 4 years of using them.
Common sense goes a looooong ways!
Rick H...

Thanks, all. Everyone has provided some great and useful information. I appreciate your time to answer. I'll use with caution.