Using WVO as a Fuel

Using waste vegetable oil (WVO) as a fuel, both commercially and environmentally speaking is an all round good idea, food producers spend less money on waste and recycling charges and the biodiesel producers can get hold of feedstock for a low price, or in some cases - free!

Most biodiesel is made from WVO. This needs to be treated before it is reacted and turned into biodiesel in order for the oil to reach any recognized standard of cleanliness by getting rid of any free fatty acids (FFA), oil contaminants and moisture so that the reaction can work successfully. WVO usually contains around 2-5% of FFA, any higher than 5% then you will face problems after the settling and reaction processes. A common problem that biodiesel producers face is that once the have reacted the vegetable oil, there is no clear separation between the glycerin by-product and the biodiesel, instead, they are left with a gooey substance that cannot be purified and used as fuel. If this happens it means that the FFA and/or moisture content was too high at the time of reaction.

All WVO contains fatty acids, moisture and solid particles, all of which can be removed providing you use the correct methods of filtration.

First of all, you should heat the oil to 100˚C (this is because it is the boiling point of water whereas oil has a higher boiling point) and wait for it to stop boiling, this mean all of the water has evaporated, after this, the oil needs to be left to settle for a couple of days until white skins have formed on the bottom of the storage containers; the oil can be drawn off the top, through a filtration rig which will remove solid particulate up to a certain size, depending on the filter you are using' micron rating (I would not advise using a very low rated filter as it will clog very quickly, especially if you have quite low quality WVO, I would say 15-20 micron will do the job), doing it this way will increase your overall quality of biodiesel by removing most of the FFAs and impurities both through what is left at the bottom of the storage container and also whatever has been picked up by the filters.

Once the oil has been filtered, it needs to go through esterification, in order to turn the FFAs into methyl esters, this is a process by which you react your WVO with methanol and 95% concentrated sulphuric acid, this is because the oil has been reheated so many times that the fatty acids have broken away from the glycerin and now move freely in the oil (hence the name free fatty acids), these react with the catalyst during transesterification (the process in which vegetable oil is reacted with methanol to produce biodiesel).

Now, transesterification, the oil now needs to be transferred into a reactor, you can do this using a filtration rig again, but this time you can use a filter with a lower micron rating (around 10 micron) just to make it that little bit cleaner. Once this is done, you're clean(ish) oil needs to be reacted with methanol and a catalyst, this is required to increase the rate of the reaction, this needs to be an alkaline, either Sodium Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide. This can be recovered unaffected by the reaction along with the glycerol that was separated from the vegetable oil.

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This process is reversible, this means that the reaction works in both directions until there is equilibrium between vegetable oil and biodiesel. This means that as the biodiesel producer, you must ensure that biodiesel is being created all the time rather than having the reaction stall when there is a balance between vegetable oil and biodiesel.

In commercial production, you would tap off the output biodiesel as it is created to make sure that there is more oil than there is biodiesel, therefore, the reaction will continue.

With smaller production lines it is easier to just add more methanol than you need to ensure that the reaction carries on producing biodiesel.

After the reaction you will be left with a mix of: biodiesel, glycerol, unused catalyst, excess methanol and traces of water, all of these need to be removed from the biodiesel in order for it to be used as a fuel.
First off the glycerol is much denser than the biodiesel, so all you need to do is wait for a couple of days for it to separate and drain off the glycerol by-product from the bottom of the tank, this can be sped up using a centrifuge.
The water and methanol is removed by using either flash evaporation or distillation.
Then all that is left is the unused catalyst, this is removed from the biodiesel by gently washing it with warm water until the wash water goes clear. After this, it is advised to filter your product through a 5 micron filter to make sure all contaminants have been removed, then you need to dry the biodiesel and put your finished product into storage.



The key to successful biodiesel production is to make sure that the base feedstock you are getting is of a high standard. If you collect poor quality WVO, there will be a considerable amount of shrinkage due to the high FFA content, which HAS to be removed. Most WVO is sold by weight so its best to stay away from poor quality oil - especially if you are paying for it!
It is possible to measure how much FFA is in your WVO by using a Free Fatty Acid Measuring Strip, these can be found on the Filtertechnik website for you to buy, not only this but you can find a whole range of analytical equipment that are ready for you to buy, such equipment allows you to view what is contaminating your oil and how much is present including water content.
Another thing to watch out for is that the term WVO doesn't necessarily mean waste vegetable oil anymore, food producers are selling hydrogenated, semi-hydrogenated veg oils, rendered tallow and animal fats (AKA brown grease) as WVO, not to try and scam you, its just that the term has lost its meaning (FYI, in this post, when I say WVO, I mean WVO!), these can cause serious problems because they contain high levels of solid contamination, fats and water, which if used in a motor vehicle, can cause big problems with the fuel delivery system.

WVO can also be used for power generation, but to do so, your oil has to be exceedingly clean, so it may need a filtration system that incorporates an anti-bacterial conditioning system and a polishing filter. Again, such systems can be found on the Filtertechnik website in varying sizes, from small home brew systems to big industrial size rigs.

Thanks for reading!

Black Diesel: The Fuel of the Future?

Black diesel is an experimental fuel which is made up of standard diesel and used motor oil, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid or in some cases, gear oil.

In order to make black diesel you must:

   * First filter the oil, I would advise to around 20 micron at this stage, this is so that you can get rid of any      large particles that could do your engine some serious harm  by clogging filters and damaging fuel    injectors.

   * Now you must mix your oil and diesel, the ratio of oil:diesel that you use depends on the engine you are running, for older IDI models you should use no more than a 1:1 ratio, half oil and half diesel, this being done will create very little extra black smoke to come from the exhaust as long as it has been filtered properly. As far as I can tell, the best results when using black diesel in a car is to use around 10-25% waste oil and the rest as diesel. For newer IDI models you should only use up to 10% oil and the rest should be diesel, this is because newer IDI models have an optical sensor that needs to be able to see through the fuel, and if there is too much oil, this is not possible. There is no hard data that suggests what is an old IDI or a new one for that matter, so you will need to find out the details for your own vehicle. I would advise you to not use waste engine oil if you are putting it into a modern vehicle as they are less tolerant to the change in viscosities, latent heat strength and burn characteristics.

   * This stage is not a requirement but it does speed up the next stage. You can heat your oil in a high pressure oil furnace to at least 160˚F (around 70˚C), this allows the mix to flow quicker through a system

   *Finally, you should, again, filter your black diesel but this time through several filters with different micron ratings, I would personally go with another 20 micron, then a 10, a 5, a 3 and then I would advise filtering through a 1 micron (or less) filter (70% of engine damage  is caused by particles that are as small as 4 micron, so if you get rid of these particles then you will have an extended engine life, and the final filter would get rid of the very fine carbon particles that will eventually clog fuel filters and injectors).

Remember, Black Diesel is an experimental fuel, so following these instructions is entirely at your own risk!

Just like everything else in the world, black diesel has advantages, and where there are advantages, there are disadvantages, these are as follows:

Advantages

   * Black diesel has more energy per gallon than standard diesel, this means that you can get more miles and power from your diesel engine.
   * No engine modification is required
   * Engine runs quieter and smoother because of the lubricating properties that the oil has, this ultimately increases your engine life (This mainly applies to transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid or very clean engine oil)
   * Using black diesel reduces the amount of waste oil that would usually be thrown into a lake, the sea or a landfill site. Only 50% of motor oil is recycled and 1 gallon of oil is enough to make 1,000,000 gallons of water undrinkable.


Disadvantages


   * Some people have reported that black diesel increases the amount of black smoke coming out of their vehicles exhaust, this will be down to the quality of the oil, the oil not being filtered enough or there is too much oil in the mix.
   * Damage to fuel injectors and clogged filters, this again will be down to poor filtration of the oil.

Therefore, as long as the vehicle being used is able to run on black diesel and it is made properly by  being well-filtered and the right mix of oil and diesel is used, then there should not be any problems.

Judging from information that I have gathered, I can see that the best results are coming from people who have used hydraulic oil or transmission fluid with diesel, it seems that the properties of the oil keeps the fuel injectors clean and well lubricated. But if doing this, you need to try and find the driest oil you can because it could take much more energy in heating to de-water than you will save in fuel costs you then need to filter the oil down to 3 micron to get rid of the solid contamination .


A final reminder: Black diesel is an experimental fuel and the use and production of it is entirely at your own risk.


Thanks for reading!

Why is it there and what can I do about it?

Operators report that 90% of all diesel and fuel problems are down to contamination ie. solid and moisture. Too much moisture in a fuel leads to microbial growth, this affects hundreds of vehicles and vessels all year round by clogging filters and starving engines of fuel This can then lead to bigger problems further down the line. But just because your fuel is contaminated, it doesn't mean that you need to throw it away. This blog will help you understand a little bit more about microbial growth and how to get rid of it.


So, Where is my contamination coming from?


This is the question that everyone experiencing fuel contamination are asking,  the answer is simple: your fuel.
All fuel contains water which means that under normal handling and storage methods, there will be bacterial growth in your fuel. There are some cases that bacterial growth may be more rapid than normal storage methods, engine rooms are a prime example because its around 30-40 degrees centigrade that bacteria breeds best, especially when open to air. The bacteria feeds off the oil/fuel and multiplies easily in the warm conditions.


Microbial growth is most commonly seen as a black sludge at the bottom of a storage tank, this causes filters to get blocked, fuel doesn't combust properly which then contributes to poor emissions through black smoke. In addition to this when the bacteria is present and is reproducing, corrosive acids such as sulfurous and sulphuric acid, over time these can damage the inside of your storage containers and can eventually lead to very expensive problems.




What can be done about this?


Up until now, the only treatment that could be given to help ease this problem was to add liquid biocides regularly, however these are highly toxic and are hazardous to dispose of and handle, also, adding these does not solve the problem, it is only a short-term fix.


However, we've designed the FT-Mag, which is a natural, permanent, non-toxic and maintenance free solution that works with any engine or fuel storage system.


The way that the FT-Mag works is by passing the fuel through the device, where the bacteria goes through plasmolysis, a process where a cell loses water through osmosis which then causes some of the plasma membrane to pull away. The bacteria. now in its plasmolyzed state, is small enough to pass through your fuel filters and can then be destroyed in the combustion process.


The micro-organisms stay in its plasmolyzed state for 15-30 days, after this the cells begin to duplicate again and your fuel becomes highly contaminated once more, which then leads to the blocking of filters and ultimately, engine failure.




Thanks for reading! Below I have added a link which will direct you to a PDF which covers these points and more in greater detail, just in case you need more information: http://www.filtertechnik.co.uk/Downloads/fuel%20conditioning%20systems.pdf


Also, here is a link that will lead you to our main website: http://www.filtertechnik.co.uk


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