Joe:

Wow. I figured there was a flange and through-bolt of some sort, but I didn't figure it'd be that awesome.

That looks good. Unfortunately also looks expensive I may end up sliding on up to a bio-friendly welding shop and getting them to add a port to the barrel. They run bio in all their trucks and generators, the owner's really into the fuel.

Thanks guys,
Actually I've not sold any of them. I made a couple for myself and they work great! you can make them in just about any size. I don't have them on my web site. I have no idea what to charge for them if I did sell them. Any suggestions? I've had a couple people ask about that cool static mixer that I built and I am making a 2 inch one for someone.

The centrifuging of biodiesel is problematic because first, you need a beefed up motor and pump. Bio is thinner than oil and won't build pressure. Also, bio swells rubber, seeps thru plastic & iron. Bio just breaks stuff down. The way I understand it, seals in the pump come in several varieties. None are methanol proof and bio proof and lye proof at the same time.

quote:

Originally posted by fabricator:

Especially with KOH, if there is one single ml of methanol left in 200 gallons soap will NOT come out of suspension.

Fab

Ignoring recent thinking on resin and hardwood chip filtering, IIRC Graham Laming was the first real exponent of "dry wash" with his eco-processor. Even today his website says that soap will completely drop out in the settling tank after processor demething, and simply pump off the top 50% and filter to use.

So - you have proved that centrifuge is no good for desoaping bio, but what is your view of the wait and settle method?

Paul

quote:

Originally posted by Paulus:

quote:

Originally posted by fabricator:

Especially with KOH, if there is one single ml of methanol left in 200 gallons soap will NOT come out of suspension.

Fab

Ignoring recent thinking on resin and hardwood chip filtering, IIRC Graham Laming was the first real exponent of "dry wash" with his eco-processor. Even today his website says that soap will completely drop out in the settling tank after processor demething, and simply pump off the top 50% and filter to use.

So - you have proved that centrifuge is no good for desoaping bio, but what is your view of the wait and settle method?

Paul

Graham works exclusively with naoh, naoh soap is very different from koh soap, I beleive demeth and settle works with naoh soap, with koh it would take weeks to months if ever, that is why I have gone back to naoh.

Thanks Fab. And the fugeing with NaOH is no good either?

It does go somewhat faster, but heat builds up in the bio the same way an it becomes a problem of diminishing returns, as far as I am concerned wood shavings are the way to go, cheap effective and green.

Would it be feasible to use the centrifuge as a kind of "resin extender," running demethed biodiesel through the centrifuge for a while to cut the concentration down, then pumping it through resin towers or wood chips? Run the stuff through until it comes close to that diminishing return threshold, then pump it through the towers to finish off the cleaning process?

So I'm finally sitting back at the house while I have the time, and looked up the formula and dimensions I made of the two Melling pumps.

CIR = 6*W*(2*D-L)*(L-D)/2 for Gear pumps, where D is the diameter of the individual gear bores, L is the distance across the bores, and W is the thickness/width of the gears, all in inches.

The standard Melling M55 pump had the following:

W= 1.21"
D= 1.46"
L= 2.71"

With a CIR= .999 in^3

The M55HV had

W = 1.5"
D = 1.46"
L = 2.71"

With a CIR = 1.28 in^3