Robthebrit
Explorer
DesertRose said:
I get the oil from a friend who supplies donuts to starbucks, his California bakery is near LA so I drive over and get it from him. For my initial tests, I started with virgin oil and then I progressed to oil that I had used myself and then on to his commercial oil. Used oil really does make a difference to the chemistry. From what I can tell always getting the oil from the same place helps to keep things consistent. You still have to do the tests for water content etc but you can take a good guess as to how much of the supply chemicals you will use for a batch.
The glycerin is a problem for an individual, the bigger co-ops have outlets for it - the cosmetic indutry of all places. To find a commercial outlet it needs to be refined and the equipment to do so is out of reach for an individual but some of the co-ops will take it from you. If you seach the bio-diesel forums you can usually find somebody willing to take it.
The glycerin makes a fantastic biodegradable degreaser, you can use a fair amount that way. For a larger quantities on the order of a few 5 gallon buckets, in Los Angeles at least, you can take it to the public Haz Mat drop off.
There is some manual labour but when you get setup with the tanks and filters its really not that much work. My concern is the fire hazard, the oil and biodiesel don't readily burn but methonal does and it burns hot enough to get the oil burning. There are also the issues with methonal being toxic to humans.
Rob
