More initial results in.

Stock Appleseed with eductor added passes 3/27 in 1.5 hours using 18% methanol. In this test the methanol was pumped into the tank in about 2 minutes. It was not introduced slowly for an even distribution.

Great thread Rick !

More info please !

What temp , ect !

Thanks, Steve

quote:

Originally posted by steved:
Great thread Rick !

More info please !

What temp , ect !

Thanks, Steve

When all the test results are in there will be a report.

Great work... I am anxiously awating the report and the possibility of modifying my Appleseed.

This has huge possibilites to lower meth usage and in turn lower the final price per gallon of my bio.


Cheers.

Interesting work Rick. Why do you point the eductor down rather than at a tangent to the tanks round side? I do this with my venturi and it swirls everything around in a nice mixing motion. It does take me 14 mins to add all the meth to 350 litres of oil but this could be 7 mins if I got the venturi modified to a 5 to one ratio instead of it's current ten to one ratio. Alternatively I could move up to a 120lpm pump to get a 7 min addition time. The aggressive mixing happens in the venturi and the swirl is enough to keep everything nicely mixed after that. Seems to make good bio fast and reliably.

Ant,

I talked to several ChE's before going this path. They suggested parallel to the centerline of the tank and off center for maximum mixing. They had only disparaging remarks to make about swirls and vortexes. They considered them something to avoid.

I didn't use a venturi to add the meth. I closed off the tank valve to stop the flow of oil and opened a valve to let in the meth and just pumped it in through the eductor. Essentially pouring the meth in the top of the tank.

What this last test showed is that the eductor provided enough in tank mixing to allow pouring the methanol into the top of the tank. I'm seeing indications that adding the meth through a venturi may improve mixing further and reduce mixing times even more. It's one of the tests I'm wanting to run in the near future. The venturi I have for the job has about a 20:1 ratio.

quote:

I talked to several ChE's before going this path. They suggested parallel to the centerline of the tank and off center for maximum mixing. They had only disparaging remarks to make about swirls and vortexes. They considered them something to avoid.

Yes I have heard similer remarks about vortex or swirl mixing if used as the main mixing. However, as previus research reported on this site has shown, only the initial mix of meth into oil needs to be aggressive and just keeping everything gently moving after that is sufficient. So both our methods work.

I will take on board the optimum use of eductor mixing and if I get around to using one, may try that method.

Thank for all the work and reporting.

I'm really interested about these. Are these eductors available in the market or are they a custom order?

If they are available can anybody give me specific company information as to whom I can get them from?

We have a few of them in stock. They are not posted on our web site yet because were still testing them out. The eductor upgrade kit is $50 plus shipping. If you want one, then give us a call and we can take your order over the phone.

Rick,

I am sure there are many out here that would like one but are waiting on the test results... Can you update us on when those might be posted?

Thanks.

The beta testing is a slow process, so far two out of the dozen beta testers have reported in. It will probably be several more months before I post the final results.

So far I can tell you that using an eductor absolutely improves mixing in an Appleseed. What in question is if the edutor being tested is the best one for the task.

quote:

Originally posted by RickDaTech:
We have a few of them in stock. They are not posted on our web site yet because were still testing them out. The eductor upgrade kit is $50 plus shipping. If you want one, then give us a call and we can take your order over the phone.

Orderings gonna be a little complicated because I live on the other side of the world from you guys.

Can you specify what kind of pump parameters would the eductor needs since there would be different pumps that are available here.

It's sized for the 1" clear water pumps.

Rick -love your work and the pumps I got from you.

Recently we installed it to take suction on the top portion of the reactor (methanol area) and inject it back into the top of the reactors cone bottom.

It does this at the natural angle of the cone bottom (45 deg.) so it is shooting up into the main reaction volume. I believe this should considerably improve reactions and reduce methanol requirements as well as reaction time.

We would probably like to install one of your eductors (tank mixers) on this port but its not the same as the top ports on the Appleseeds but it is a 3/4" female threaded port.

How are the test results coming along?

GCG

PS the venturi we purchased is working out great also.

Rick,

I have been thinking on your eductors and was wondering if anyone has thought of the following: My appleseed is upside down, I have 4 ports on the bottom of my processor. How about drawing from the bottom, through the pump and injecting through another bottom port up an internal pipe and through one of your eductors? This would cause a lot of stirring within the processor. Thoughts?

I am doing just that, kind of. I have an 80 gallon apple turnover. Only mine has 2 ports on the top (now bottom) that were already being used. So I took the port on the side of the top (now on the side of the bottom) that was used as the pressure relief valve when it was a functioning water heater. Since it is a side port, I wound up using a gas fireplace flexible line to make the transition from horizontal to vertical within the tank.

Hope I explained that well. To answer your question, using the eductor inside an upside down plumbed water heater does seem to help with mixing and speed reaction time.

Guys this is essentially what a major biodiesel reactor equipment supplier does...

GCG

Just wondering if there has been any more development on the use of the eductors Rick sent out or if any other ones are being evaluated. I am building a system now and would like to also try using an eductor to improve/speed up production.

mahalo

quote:

Originally posted by paulb3:
Just wondering if there has been any more development on the use of the eductors Rick sent out or if any other ones are being evaluated. I am building a system now and would like to also try using an eductor to improve/speed up production.

mahalo

I am wondering also. I have a 120 gallon tank to plumb as an appleseed, with a single 3/4" fitting at the bottom restricting the amount of pumping I can do. So if an eductor can help with the mixing, I'm all over that, if they last a reasonable amount of time. Currently, with a 1" clear water pump and an 80 gallon tank, I need to use 22% methanol to get my fuel to pass 3/27. A 120 gallon could complicate that....

Any updates Rick?