Where does he get the methanol?


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Posted by D Sherman [72.47.9.228] on Friday, October 21, 2011 at 11:24:16 :

In Reply to: never know what you will learn at the bike shop posted by clueless [201.202.29.210] on Thursday, October 20, 2011 at 20:03:43 :

Lots of guys try to get into making biodiesel around here and they quickly find out that it's impossible to get small quantities (i.e. less than a railroad car load) at a decent price. The big chemical suppliers won't deal with the little guy, and if you buy it from the resellers in 55 gallon drums, you pay through the nose. Remember also, methanol is a petro-chemical, made from either coal or natural gas, so biodiesel isn't as "green" as it's cracked up to be, and when you make it you're just as dependent on the petro-chemical industry as when you buy regular diesel. The lye is easier to get but it's still not free.

Glycerin is the waste product of biodiesel manufacture. What does your friend do with his glycerin? I know a woman who runs a small soap factory and she's deluged with small-time biodiesel guys trying to sell her glycerin. She doesn't want it and wouldn't take it if it was free, and neither will anyone else.

You can tell I'm not sold on biodiesel. It's mostly a hobby or something you do because you want to, not because it's money-maker, assuming you account for your costs accurately. It's sort of like burning wood (or "carbon neutral biomass energy units" as we say these days) -- unless you live right in the middle of a forest and already have trucks and saws, if you figure all the costs honestly it's not worth it.

It seems to me that the better way to use "biodiesel" is to burn straight vegetable oil. Some oils are better than others, but from what I've read there is at least one, from some tropical tree, that can be burned directly in any diesel engine, while most vegetable oils can be burned if you keep them warm enough to flow easily. There are probably some tweaks to the engine that would make it burn straight vegetable oils better. I know the military multifuel diesel engine will burn straight vegetable oil so long as it's warm enough to flow. The whole biodiesel manufacturing process seems like a kludge to me, and is mostly a way to avoid taxes and have some fun "making" your own fuel.





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