I have a visual of how well a real paddle will mix. I get a nice layer of bd on top of water in my translucent wash tank toward the end of the wash. I take the top off and put a real canoe paddle in half way down and hold the shaft with one hand and rock it back using my upper hand. Rocking it five to ten times will totally mix the contents of the barrel to a uniform consistency. It would seem SteveD has a good idea, I haven't tried the system in reacting but with my type of reactor it will be easy to add a paddle and get the benefits of both mixing methods.

When I mix the bottom wash water with this method the bd will drop water very fast which further makes me think I am getting very good contact between the water and bd.

Steve can claim bragging rights to the reaction mixing but I am laying claim to paddle washing. LOL

Canoe Paddle Washing !

What will they think of next !

I read this in another thread and wondered what the heck they were talking about. Now I know.
Thanks

Canoe Paddle Processor on tilted drum, welded version.

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Canoe paddle mixing.

cpm.bmp (365 KB, 114 downloads)

tilted drum

tilted_drum.bmp (365 KB, 90 downloads)

Paddle and vent

The CV joint boot is an inner cv joint boot for a 94 Saturn on the right side drive shaft.

Other boots may fit.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductList.aspx?PartType=942&PTSet=A

The rest is from Lowe's.

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

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Don't let this thread die. Steved, I am going to go back through all your posts to not ask too many questions you have already answered. I want to get in touch with you about this method. I am new to BD (done two of Tillys Patented runs "by the book" that went perfectly and one test run creating a monster mess (small scale 3 liters). I wondered why I just couldn't "shake the can" on a larger scale, but, it looks like you have found a really sweet answer. I want to produce between 50 and 80 gallons of BD a month for my personnal use, but want to stay WAY below the radar. I don't want a biodiesel plant, I just want to collect some oil make a couple of batch runs and end up with maybe 50 gallons per month. I am not a welder, I am not a chemist, I can follow instructions. (I can titrate and run the 3/27). I think you are on a perfect track for me. thanks rc

rchouser,

Not long ago, it was generally believed that the reaction took 1hr. to complete. Test batches I did showed that if mixing was very vigorous, reaction times could be much less - as low as 5-10 min. Other tests showed, that in some cases (low methanol and or less vigorous mixing) much longer mixing was needed to complete the reaction well enough.

Mixing time needed to get a complete enough reaction seems to be related to several factors, including:

Type/intensity of mixing
Temperature
% Methanol
Catalyst amount


Steved has shown that good mixing does not require expensive, complicated equipment.

I think steved has also made a contribution by demonstrating/confirming that mixing can have a great effect on time required to complete a batch on a scale bigger than 1L bottles.

One thing I noticed about steved's paddle is there is not much cross section to it plus the motion is a bit limited by the fact it goes thru a 2 inch bung. A actual paddle like blade on the shaft would add increased mixing power and less hands on time. Plus a greater range of motion would help.

Hi, We used a canoe paddle, a round stick and the post hole digger replacement handle for different mixing tests.

They all will work. There are lots of different paddles on eBay for sale.

I would not use anything steel that could hit the side of the drum and cause a spark.

I settled on the post hole digger for myself because it was easy in and out and cheap.

Thanks, Steve

To everyone that is PM ing and emailing me.

Don't be afraid to ask the questions here.

That way everyone can read my answers and others can also add in their ideas.

Thanks Raften for joining in !

Others feel free too. I am a Canoe Paddle Processor newbee and I am steep on the learning curve !

Thanks, Steve

Quote :

We started making biodiesel in my backyard down in Chatham County, pretty much in a fifty five gallon drum with a canoe paddle for agitation, and have recently completed one of North Carolina’s first commercial biodiesel plants-which is a zero to four million gallon per year operation, depending on how hard you want to work it.



Canoe Paddle Processing has been around for years.

If anyone else wants to share what they know we are sure interested ! ! !

Thanks, Steve

http://energy.biofuels.coop/speeches/2007/01/24/chemistry-class/

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/11/the_biofuels_puzzle.php

http://biofuels.coop/jigsaw-puzzle/

Here you go Steve,

Canoe Paddle Methoxide Mixing!

Tony

IM000475.JPG (68 KB, 149 downloads)

Thanks Tony !

Update.

The CV joint boot holds up fine. Still using the same one and it shows no signs of wear !

We have been using the glycerin byproduct to clean up the WVO before processing and getting great results.

The Canoe Paddle Processor is what I use to make biodiesel.

Hello Homebrewers,

We have been told they want to put the Canoe Paddle Processor on the CBT but it needs extra verification.
Anyone interested in this testing or anyone who has done tests please let us know. Thanks.

Greengirl