sorry blackdog i wasnt home yesturday, out wheelin.
yep i made my own for a couple months before i sold my 89 f250 diesel (7.3 non powerstroke) and its easier than it sounds to produce. if you want to save money you can build your own from a water heater for about 300 bucks, assuming you use an old water heater but if you use a new one it will cost you a little more. i used a 20 gallon water heater. replaced both heater elements with 120 volt ones (only plugs i had access to), made sure it was water tight and that the plumbing was still intact. the processor i'm going to be talking about is called an appleseed, do a google search for that and you'll see plenty of pics of other people's setups.
once your water heater is ready go to harbor freight and get the little blue pump they have, 1" plumbing connections and only costs about 25 bucks. can go with another brand or pump but make sure its a 1" diameter fitting and that it can handle some not so clean fluid because you will have so nasty thick fluid running through it. bilge pump is best but they're not cheap. going to need a couple valves for the plumbing, a place to plug in the water heater and the pump, and a fair amount of 1" diameter pipe. pvc, steel, copper that works but stay away from galvanized as much as you can. the biodiesel will pick up the zinc from the galvanized pipe and can deposite it inside your motor, only seen that be an issue though if you've gone over 300k miles on pure biodiesel its such a small transfer.
heres a basic rundown of how i would refine the bio.
1. go to the restaurant and pic up the old veggy oil (got mine from long john silvers, find a place that changes their oil as often as possible and is not watery, less water and the more often its changed the better). i had a 55 gal oil drum sitting back there and another one sitting in the bed of my truck, would pump the old veggy oil from the one sitting at the restaurant to the one in my bed, took about 20-30 minutes usually.
2. once home pump the veggy oil into the water heater. once everything was in the tank you close that valve (one that lets you poor the oil into the water heater) and open another valve so the veggy oil can flow through the pump, through a 2 diesel fuel filter/water seperator line, then back into the heater. before you start the pump turn on the water heater elements (set them to about 140F) and let it warm up for about 10-20 minutes, depending on what size tank you are using and the ambient temp outside. turn the pump on and let it cycle for 30-45 minutes, your going to be replacing those filters and draining the water seperator just about every single batch so make sure you locate that plumbing in an easy to reach area.
3. get a small batch, 1/2 a gallon or a gallon outside of the tank, this is going to be your sample batch (yes you have to do this with every batch you make). turn the pump off and the heater elements off as well. measure the ph of the sample batch (a titration kit is best here) and check the chart to see how much methanol and lye is required for that ph. mix the methanol and lye (wear the safety gear), then add the mixture to the sample batch. mix it well then let it sit (i let mine sit for 8 hours minimum) then check the sample. if the 2 layers are seperated and the bio is the correct amber color sitting on top of a black layer (glycerine) then the sample went perfect. take the measurement of methanol/lye, multiply it out to the amount needed for the rest of the batch, reheat the tank to 140 and poor the methanol/lye mix in. pump it through for 30-45 minutes (not through the filters, an unfiltered line running from the bottom of the tank, through the pump, then dumping back into the top of the tank). turn off the pump and the heater elements, let it sit for 3-4 days so it has time to settle. turn on the pump and start pumping the glycerine out (thick and black) into a differant storage tank, 5 gallon bucket or whatever works just fine. after the glycerine is gone there will be one of 2 things starting to pump out.
1. biodiesel. if thats the case transfer the line to your trucks fuel tank or your finished fuel storage tank and pump it there. or you can run it through the filter/water seperator line a few more times just to make sure its as clean as possible, better to do that with the processor than your trucks fuel filters because its easier to work with.
2. a soapy mix. the more water in the veggy oil the more soapy mix you will get. you can either pump this into the glycerine storage tank, or turn the pump off and let it sit for a few more days then try again. that soapy stuff is the veggy oil/methanol/lye/water mix that hasnt seperated.
thats it to make your own biodiesel. to get rid of the glycerine you can either take it to a company that will use it, or mix it with kitty litter and take it to the dump.
no truck modifications required but i would HIGHLY recommend spare fuel filters, or getting an aftermarket fuel filter setup that will filter at least 5 microns, 2 is better that is in an easily accessed area. biodiesel is an excellent cleaner and i guarantee that it will clean your tanks and fuel system out, i went through 8 filters in 2 months but after that roughly 1 filter every 2 months. 94 and older diesels will need their rubber fuel lines replaced with synthetic, bio eats rubber over time and will start leaking because of it.
i ran b100 (pure bio) in 40F and warmer weather with no issues and b50 if it was going to get colder than that. bio jells at a higher temp than petroleum diesel, right around 32F is when bio will start jelling. that is something you really dont want to happen to your diesel, clogs your entire fuel system including the lift pump and injection pump ($$$$). your motor will run alot quieter, expecially the older non common-rail injected diesels. exhaust is gonna smell like wherever you get your veggy oil from, for me i smelled fried seafood and french fries when i was at red lights.
