The Introduction:
I am writing this post at 2:13 local time, from a room at the wonderful Holiday Inn Express in Bad Axe MI. I have been studying Anatomy and Physiology for like 4 hrs now and its time for bed but I wanted to get this post started about my experience here at girlmarks class.

I know I should probably get a blog or something like that to share all my bio-diesel expreiences as I am learning and experimenting. But at this point I don't have a blog or time to start one, so bear with me as I share with you the experience of this lowely newbie as I meet the infamous girlmark and attend one of her classes. Pigeon MI March 4-5 2006. Also anybody else in attendance can feel free to jump in and add you $0.02 or tell me off, etc.

For those who don't know I have been sitting on the sidelines of the bio diesel movement for about 6 months now. Then about a month and a half ago I stumbled onto the bio-diesel collaborative site and thus I got here, and within about 30 mins I had signed up and preregistered for girlmark's class. About 2 weeks later I bought a 1993 F-250 Diesel as my test vehicle. I have spent the rest of my free time about all 2 mins of it, reading the articles on the collaborative site, all of the links from this site and everything I could find. All waiting in antcipation for this class to mark the official start of my bio-diesel adventure. (Maybe my JTF??? NO I don't think so!) Finally it was the friday before the class and I began preparations.

After spending the majority of last night working on the "new to me" diesel, thats a whole nother story. I passed out about 1:00 AM, intending to leave from Grafton (outside of Cleveland) OH at 4:00 am this morning, based on mapquest directions that estimated the trip at 287 miles taking 4 hrs 52 mins. Well at 5:15 am this morning I was awakened not by my alarm but by the fact that my alarm had not gone off and that I now had 4 hrs 15 mins to get packed ready and drive 5 hrs to the class.

After a great deal of rushing around to pack up my truck (1997 F-150 Ext-Cab 2WD Ga$), I left Grafton hoping I had everything. It was at about the point I was halfway to the turnpike, doing 75mph on the country roads, that I realized that I had forgetten the 2 liter bottle that girlmark had emailed us and told us to bring. I spent $60.00 to put 20 or so gal of 87 octane in the ol' truck. 6:06 AM I got the ticket for the turnpike. After 4 hrs of doing about an average of 80-85 mph on the interstate, and passing a large number of pissed off farmers at 75-80 mph on the country roads here in the thumb, I arrived in downtown Pigeon MI, It was 9:55 am, then thanks to mapquest (don't get me started, but I was able to download them to my pda so it saved paper and trees in the process.) I spent the next 11 mins driving around Pigeon trying to find where I missed the turn in downtown, but at 10:06 I pulled into the parking lot of Laker Elementarty. I proceeded in as fast as I could and walked in late, with everyone looking at me.

The Learning Curve:
Like I mentioned above I have spent more than several late nites 2-6 am on the web researching bio-diesel and the processing of it. I have read just about every article on the collaborative site, I have read most all of girlmark.com, I have read many of girlmark's b100 articles on b100.com, I have spent time reading all the forums here and following links to all of the members awesome sites with great pictures and tutorials of the processors and the like.

I had spent as much time as possible researching this, feeling that it was some mysterious process that was complicated to grasp. I have been operating under the assumption that and with a general fear of the rather large learning curve associated with starting to homebrew bio-diesel. It is that anxiety that led me to postpone and home test processing attempts off until I had attented this class. Now with one day down and one to go I have come to many realizations that I will share in hopes to educate others and to do what I can to promote anyone and everyone who is able to attend one of girlmark's classes, and also maybe if I brown nose enough in this post I can convince her to come to Cleveland someday to have a class and possibly with my idea for medium scale production for municipal (fire / ems / police) use of b100. But I continue...

I as I worked to figure out what I had missed in the the first 36 mins of the class, I found that my fears were unfounded. I found that rather then behind the learning curve I was ahead of the curve. Most of the info shared about bio-diesel prior to the break for lunch I had already learned and understood As a matter of fact as I may explain in later posts and in a blog or site that will creat soon. I am a Firefighter/EMT I spent 3 years as a mechanical engineering student before I decided I didn't want to sit behind a desk all day drawing small parts for some company. So now I am in various schools to become a full-time firefighter Flight Paramedic, and after that a Registerd Flight Nurse, and after that possibly a Medical Doctor. I also am finishing the engineering degree, I guess I figure that since over $90k (including about 75% of wich was scholarships) was spent on the three years I spent learning Chemistry, Thermodynamics, Mechanics, etc I should finish and get the piece of paper. But I digress.

I found that the considerable amount of research that I have been doing was consderiably more than most people who were in attendance. I also found that besides girlmark and one other person I was the only person from another state and deffinatly one of the farthest travelers, again well worth the travel, expenses and the class cost and the class is only half over. I had a large amount of statistical data (being an former engineer, I am sorta a nut for facts and figures and comparisons) While some of the data I shared I found that the majority of it I with held not wanting to make my presence too known, b/c of the tardiness issue. However I was able to chime in some comments to assist Mark with explaining the benifits of bio-to the unintiated.

I found that my chemical backround and now my medical backround has given me a rather large understanding the the process behind making bio-diesel. As terms were being thrown around the the room, by Mark, and Wayne(whole other topic), and others, that confussed the majority of the class I had no problem understanding and making inferences that led me to conclussions that mark would later discuss or briefly mention but not wanting to confuse others had skipped over in detail. I am by know means an expert of chemistry, or medicine, or even mechanical things, I merely felt comfortable with the terminology and science behind the process, still uncertain of my ability to collect, brew and produce a quality fuel.

So as the class went on I listened and took as detailed notes as possible, wishing that I would have brought both my camera and either an audio or video recorder to record the information in case I missed anything in my notes. (note to Mark the hand out amazing idea, a life saver for someone like me who takes detailed notes but has terrible hand writing. Can't wait to buy the book tomorrow.)

So I shall continue with the actual meat of the what was amazing about the actual class for the first day.

good stuff here interested to hear how the class went. I have not ventured into biodiesel yet myself as I am a cheapskate and can burn WVO cheaper than making biodiesel. I have converted four vehicles two mercedes and two Fords to run WVO straight but I am now getting very interested in the biodiesel. I am still very concerned about the lye and methenol since I have pets and small children. Not knowing much about the chemicals involved I am not sure I want to have them around to make the biodiesel. My recent interest in biodiesel is interesting in itself. I did the WVO solely on a cheapskate basis and know find myself much more concerned with the environmentaly aspects, therefore as the biodiesel would be IMO more easily accepted I would like to spend the extra time and money to make and use biodiesel in hopes of gaining more interest and hopefully converting more people to use the renewable resourse as fuel. Even though I have personally put nearly 40,000 miles on my two vehicles on WVO nobody wants to hear that I run for free and they don't. They pollute a ton and I don't pollute anywhere near what they do. However if I can make a product that can be dumped into any diesel vehicle without changing the vehicle at all, maybe, just maybe, I can get some more interest and help to bring about a change for the better. The downside is of course, "it only costs me 60-75 cents per gallon I might as well keep driving my fuel guzzeler. I have been guilty as charged myself. Proud to say I have parked the fuel guzzler for a benz until tonight when my driver was involved in a head on with it. thankfully no injuries to any party amd minimal damage to the vehicles compared to what should have been in a head on.
Enough rambling I am sorry, point is, how was the class and what did you get out of it?

be sure to re-read the first two posts i was in the process of editing them when you posted. I am still using an old wireless b card to get on the wireless here at the hotel so if i like blink wrong i lose the signal.

The Class:

After I had spent considerable amount of time reading and enjoying the information on the girlmark.com site, I had basically went over every inch of it for any and all knowledge, I could gain from it. I am especially fascinated with California and the lifestyle of people who live there it seems so much different then around here. I have to admit that prior to entering the library at the Laker Elementary I had elevated Mark to somewhat of superstardom, make her the next American bio-diesel Idol if you will, proclaiming her to any and all back home who would listen to my ideas on bio and about my planned trip, as basically the inventor of bio-diesel or at the very least the inventor of the very best way to home brew the stuff.

Any and all of this intimdating factor that I had built for myself disappeared as when I returned from subway to enjoy my lunch Mark sat next to me and even listend to about 30 sec of my life story before having to make preparations for the next part of the class. But I will take step back to the my impressions on first arriving at the class.

From the moment I arrived and started taking notes, I found her instruction, very excellent starting with a history of bio-diesel, then to the advantages and disadvantages, many of which and more I was already aware, but she also made mention to special circumstances that I found very informative and also it was very reassuring to me taking comfort in learning from someone with such vast knowledge and experience.

Like I stated earlier the chemical and mechanics and science behind the process so far I have had no problem understanding, however Mark was careful to break the process down into a much simpler and understandble process for those with out my backround, but not so simple as to insult anyone's intelegence, or to bore me or any of the experts (of wich I am not one) in attendance. And she clearly took time answer any and all questions.

I am trying to think of some key points that I learned. Some the biggest stuff that I was paying attention too was safety, safety is a key factor in the bio-process, the process if done in a contolled and carful enviorment is rather safe and harmless yielding two harmless products, however the process requires the use of several highly dangerous reactants that if not carfully handled, things could get out of hand quick. Specific things, that fact that the stock pile of nitrle gloves I have from working in EMS will not work for Bio-diesel, nitrle and methanol dont mix and niether does bio and nitrle. Also the heat generated from mixing your xOH ( either K or Na) is a real concern, I saw how hit can get first hand from just 220 ml of methanol and 21 grams of KOH. It would be highly dangerous to mix large (several gal) of the stuff at a rapid rate, as the heat generated could melt plastic carbouys.

Other things, especially for me, after doing so much research and reading, it was great to have the hands on and the visual demonstration. I am a very visual learner so no matter how much I read this stuff, it never really settles in until I get a chance to see it or do it. It was a real comfort to have experts like Mark and Wayne on hand. I took several oportunities, to ask questions of both people.

Today for me was basically reafirming and demonstrating what I already have a grasp for. I am looking forward to tomorrow when we talk about quality testing and the actual larger scale processing. I took several pages of notes today and expect to probally take double that or more tomorrow.

One thing that I intend todo, is to ask more questions, hopefully overcoming the stardom factor. For me especially after wanting to visit california so bad, and then spending the time on girlmark.com its been rather an intimidating experience to be so up close and personal with this californian superstar, of bio-diesel production, I mean I am just a good ol' ohio boy, I am not worthy! j/k

That is my biggest recomendation, at this point, get yourselves to this class. Pay attention, no matter how much you think you know or you actually know. And if you have questions ask them ask as much as you can, b/c I guarantee that Mark with have the answer and if she doesn't then other experts like Wayne and others in attendance (sorry I cant remeber names from this class) are no matter who it is they are more than willing to share the knowledge with you.

(3/5/06) Sunday Morning Update:
Ok well after writing the beginings of this long post last night I finally passed out around 4:00 or 5:00 am. I then woke up late around 8:00 am but that was still plenty of time to grab breakfast and shower and pack and make it to class on time today. Well one thing led to another and I was walking out the door @ 9:15 am, yes I know I was cutting it close but what can a guy do. So I went out and opened my truck and started loading it up while I let the ol' gasoline fired engine warm up. It was a bitter cold morning with fog covering everything in every direction. It was about the time I was getting ready to get on the road that I discovered that I left my coat in my room. Now I had done the express check-out and left the keys to the room in the room when I left. So I decided to leave the truck running to warm-up and I decided to take my keyless entry remote with me just in case. I went in and got another key and got my coat with little or no hassle. When I came out to my truck I found that it had decided to lock the doors, and further more it disabled the keyless entry since it was running and the doors were locked. Arghh

Could it get any worse. Well had I brought my "new to me" diesel I would have had a lock-out kit in the tool box in the bed. But since I didnt have those tools or any other of any other useful tools. It was now 9:30 am and I called for roadside assistance. The tow truck arrived at 10:00 am and I was on the road by 10:05 and at the class by 10:20. The rest of the class was excellent. We covered more advanced washing and processing topics. Like the acid-base two step process and the base-base two step process. I found this section of class the most interesting of all. We also saw the details of the appleseed processor, and other processors. At lunch I had a great time learning about alterantives to heat my house. With the natural gas prices out of control here in Ohio and with trying to heat a house and a 6 plus car garage and appartment, I was very interested in how to heat with corn and other things. The remainder of the class was excellent. Wayne did a very good job with helping Mark and I found all of the information very useful and was able to ask more questions than yestarday.

As firemedicmonkey mentioned, I too was at the class. It was great and I really enjoyed the entire experience. I was asked by Mark to come and help out as her arm is in a cast. Not knowing for sure what to bring I brought a ton of stuff. It turned out to be a good plan. We ended up either using everything I brougt and if not using it I was able to use it as a show and tell type of thing.

I had the oppertunity to address the class a couple of times and it was very cool. I always thought I'd be too afraid to talk in front of a croud but it turned out to be very easy for me.

firemonkey refered to me as one of the experts. I am not. I've only beeing doing this for a few months now. The thing is, I'm either fearless or crazy, I havn't determined which. I started reading about all this and very shortly there after starting experimenting. And then building processing tanks and a still and dewatering tank...

Bottom line is that this sort of thing seems intimidating on paper but in pratice is rather simple. Granted there are safety concerns. Methanol is dangerous stuff, but no more so that gasoline in my opinion. Lye can be dangerous stuff if no handled properly, but tons of it are used by inexperienced users everday to clear drain cloggs. If you use a little common sense, use proper safety equipment, it's not like dealing with plutonium or something like that.

I think Mark does a phenominal job of instructing these classes. She is extremely knoledgable, patient and very personable. I to had built her up to be some sort of biodiesel goddess. It was great to find her to be very down to earth. She obviously knows far far more then she's revealing in the class but keep in mind, this is a basics type of class. She doesn't intend to make people biodiesel experts out of a two day class. She teaches you the basics, how to titrate oil, how to process a small batch, she goes over the chemical theory behind what is happening during the process.

I personally was honored to be able to assist Mark and answer a few student's questions.

I would recomend attending the class. Even if you, like me, have been processing a little while you still learn a lot. I learned about several things I didn't know much about. It's very easy to get going and never broden your horizons. I didn't know anything about the two stage process because I didn't think I'd need and so I never researched it. But it's still good to know it and understand it even if you don't need it. You may end up needing it.

I hope everyone enjoyed the class and hope I helped out in some small way.

Wayne

I'm still very bummed that I was not able to attend.

Hopefully there will be another Michigan class in the future (this one was sold out).

The class was really great. Mark did a very nice job of explaining things to us rookies. I believe Wayne did a good job of giving a brief break-down on how to recover your methanol after you've run your batch and drained off your glycerine. Wayne also explained how not to use methanol around an unprotected light bulb!!!!!! A very good tip!!!!
It was definitly worth the 8 hour drive from southern Indiana for me. I sent Mark some pics of the class I took, unfortunately I lost some of the pics in the transfer process. She might post a couple of them at her sight. Later....

The Drive Home:

Sorry I have not been on here updating this like I said I would. I had one heck of a drive home that I have been recovering from. I also had that big Anatomy and Phisiology Test on monday, that went well. Anyways my trip home went a little like this.

Near the end of the class, I had the opportunity to look under my truck to satisfy my suspicions of what was causing a strange vibration in my truck on the way to Pigeon. What I found was the the 2 of the bands that hold the rear leaf springs together were either missing or damaged and the leafs wher spread apart about an inch rather than stacked neatly on top of each other. Nothing I could do about it here so I just let it go.

After arriving late two days in a row I didn't feel it would be right to leave early, for my 5 hr drive home, and then email Mark and others my questions. So I stayed till the end and even past to ask questions and help with reactor building and clean-up.

I finally got on the road about 4:30 PM. The trip was rather uneventiful I stopped and got gas to the tune of $60.00 again to fill the tank. It was after leaving the gas station that things went down hill. Mapquest stuck again and I found myself off track. I thankfully realized that I was not going in the right compass direction and then retraced my steps to make the correct turn. It was a 20+ mile detour that cost me about 45 mins. Other than that I made it home with little or no trouble to speak of. Spent the night and next morning studying for the exam and then took the exam with no problems.

Summary:

Ok enough with my problems. What can I say despite a myriad of problems on the way to and from the class. I would not have traded the experience for anything. I found the class extremly informative, from not only a bio-diesel stand point but also from other points. Too. Mark did and does an excellent job of teaching the class. Like Wayne said she doesn't overload the class with details and advanced stuff that would more than likely intimidate beginners. She really does a good job of teaching the classes abilities. Now that I have taken this class, I would like to get some experiences under my belt and then I would like to see her put on a class with advanced topics some time.

Wayne, doesn't give himself enough credit. He did a really excellent job of asisting Mark, he was her right hand man (literly she had little use of her real right hand) Beyond that, Wayne has probalby accumulated more experience with bio-diesel in the short time (several months) that he has been working with it, than some have in years of dealing with it. I deffinatly is an expert in the many things that can go wrong with the process, and the dangers of methanol use.

Beyond the bio-diesel teaching portion of the class, it was an awesome experience to meet and network with other people. Like I said I learned so much from talking to the other people there. I learned about the various uses for regular petro-diesel and also how they can be converted to run bio. I also learned a lot about various other alternative engergy sources. It was great to put faces to names and get contact info and tips from people from all around. I would recommend this class to anyone and everyone that is near to one of the classes. Even if you have been before or are an biodiesel expert. Go to the class and share what you have learned and learn from the others there I am sure that it will not be a wasted trip. I will definatly be going again and hopefully taking people with me next time. Hopefully I dont have to wait a year todo it. Or drive/fly to some place extremly far (west coast) but I would if I had too.

Fire monkey, I'm glad you enjoyed and feel you benefited from the class.

I really appreciate the kind words you said and admiration you have concerning my knowledge and abilities as they relate to biodiesel. However, keep in mind, I'm not all that gifted. I just simply dove in and endeavored to make it happen. Anyone of us in the class could achieve the level of success I've accomplished.

I’ve always assumed I'd be scared ****less to address a fairly large group like that. But, as it turned out, it came very easy to me. This is probably the case because of my love for the entire biodiesel process.

I was profoundly honored to be asked to assist Mark in running the class. I really admire and even envy her. From where I sit, she has the ultimate dream job. She gets paid to travel all over the country and be involved in biodiesel. I would like nothing better in the world than to be able to do what she does.

The only advice I can give to anyone just starting out in this pursuit is to be persistent. Don't view your mishaps as failures. But rather as learning experiences. Always keep in mind that this isn't rocket science. The average person out there can do this thing. It just takes some basic mechanical ability and the desire to succeed. If you endeavor be successful and are patient and persistent, you'll get there. You will make it happen. I think one of the keys is to perceive it as a hobby. Once you start to view it as a job, the novelty wears off in a hurry.

So have fun, be safe, view it as a learning experience and you will succeed.

Wayne

Fire monkey, I'm glad you enjoyed and feel you benefited from the class.

I really appreciate the kind words you said and admiration you have concerning my knowledge and abilities as they relate to biodiesel. However, keep in mind, I'm not all that gifted. I just simply dove in and endeavored to make it happen. Anyone of us in the class could achieve the level of success I've accomplished.

I’ve always assumed I'd be scared poopless to address a fairly large group like that. But, as it turned out, it came very easy to me. This is probably the case because of my love for the entire biodiesel process.

I was profoundly honored to be asked to assist Mark in running the class. I really admire and even envy her. From where I sit, she has the ultimate dream job. She gets paid to travel all over the country and be involved in biodiesel. I would like nothing better in the world than to be able to do what she does.

The only advice I can give to anyone just starting out in this pursuit is to be persistent. Don't view your mishaps as failures. But rather as learning experiences. Always keep in mind that this isn't rocket science. The average person out there can do this thing. It just takes some basic mechanical ability and the desire to succeed. If you endeavor be successful and are patient and persistent, you'll get there. You will make it happen. I think one of the keys is to perceive it as a hobby. Once you start to view it as a job, the novelty wears off in a hurry.

So have fun, be safe, view it as a learning experience and you will succeed.

Wayne

Can I have your race car, if you start traveling around the country working with bio, cause you prolly wont have the time to race then huh?

Well, I really don't see myself traveling around doing biodiesel talks. I'm experienced but not that experienced.

Anyway, if I did, I'd just tow the car behind me and take advantage of all the nice dragstrips around the country.

But to answer your question, sure, you can have it. It'll only cost you about 60k which is roughtly half of what I have into it.

Wayne

I was at the class too. Really great. I stayed around at the end and collected several of the 1L batches we had made. After washing and drying them, they formed the first 1/2 tank of B15 that has run in my pickup.


I was at the SAE conference last week and took in three papers delivered on Biodiesel. General conclusions were not too different from what you read here.

PM emissions are reduced with Bio

NOx emissions are nominally the same, to slightly increased, with Bio.

NOx emissions can be adjusted somewhat by altering EGR.

Running Bio gives rise to apparent 'ignition delay', which was thought to have as a significant contributor 'injection delay'. This is possibly due to Bio being slightly less incompresible and is a reason timing is typically advanced when tuning for Bio.

Those who altered engine controls for running Bio typically advanced timing and increased EGR.

Horn

Wow, sorry I missed the class while it was here in Michigan. If I had known I would definitely have driven up from Ann Arbor for the class. I did quite a bit of dyno work on biodiesel and biodiesel blends in the mid- to late '90's. The way that this has transformed into "grass roots" is amazing.

Horn, I missed the biodiesel sessions at SAE, but I'm not sure I fully agree with their conclusions with respect to the ignition delay, NOx, etcetera. Cetane number is the most commonly used indicator of ignition delay, and Petro diesel in the U.S. has notoriously poor cetane (low 40's), particularly compared to Europe. Most B100 has cetane that tests to be in the 50 to 60 range, depending on the composition. Some pure fatty acide methyl esters have cetane as high as 100 and could be used as cetane enahancers for petro diesel. The higher the cetane, the shorter the ignition delay. So biodiesel actually tends to shorten ignition delay, not lengthen it, and there is considerable technical literature that indicates this. The NOx increase observed with biodiesel is pretty much across the board on different direct injection (DI) diesels, but doesn't necessarily occur with the older indirect injection diesels like the earlier Mercedes diesels and pre-TDI VWs that a number of folks on this forum use. I would not recommend altering EGR unless someone really knows what they are doing with respect to EGR mapping, and EGR on diesels is electronically controlled in any case, but with that said, remapping EGR does makes sense for a dedicated fuel change to a fuel with different NOx and PM emission characteristics and different ignition delay. I would definately not recommend injection timing advance. Generally, there is a PM vs. NOx tradeoff with changes to injection timing. PM tends to go down and NOx tends to go up with injection timing advance. A couple of degrees of injection timing retard (or better yet, re-mapping injection timing) could zero out the NOx increase with a small trade-off vs. PM. Also, the surface tension, kinematic viscosity and volatility of biodiesel are different enough from petro diesel to perhaps allow for some improvements in injector design for DI diesels to reduce spray penetration and improve mixing. I haven't seen much work going on in that area, however.

Cheers,

Joe

interesting!

I was just considering calling the SVSU folks (who are starting to work on small-scale biodiesel), to schedule some class there for the autumn. SO i'll be there again. I"m considering pitching to them an 'advanced' class of some length, since they asked me to come 'play in the lab' a bit. They seemed open to just aobut anything as far as homebrew classes went.

Maybe something like a three-day advanced class for those who've been homebrewing already?

Mark

GM

I'd like a class like that.

Don and I would travel to learn from you again!

Bob

I don't know if I would be a candidate for advanced home-brewing. I'm much more of a beginner on the processing side, although I did a brief survey of pilot and full scale prcessing when I was preparing my Master's thesis a long, long time ago. I really wish there had been a grass-roots effort like this back then. I might have been tempted to produce some of the fuel I used on my own rather than buying it all from P&G or Henkel.