Ian's vacuum biodiesel processor

80-litre per batch closed-loop processor

Process based on Aleks Kac's 2-stage acid-base process

		From left to right : Oil drum = Feedstock Holding Tank (FHT) 20-litre drum = Filter Unit with vacuum pump below. Mixing pumps, condenser behind, liquid trap below 45 kilogram propane bottle = Reactor Oil drum = biodiesel bubble wash and dry holding tank, switch gear above. 20-litre drum = Methoxide Mixer

"I've used the system once a month since last June and had no problems. But the drums are beginning to rust heavily, especially on the methoxide side of things.

"I had my Land Rover emissions test done last year, on standard diesel and the 100% biodiesel.

"Very interesting.

"The average reading for standard was 1.22 (whatever scale they use). Biodiesel was 0.62!!!

"The bloke doing the check couldn't believe it. They usually sell an expensive additive for people with smoky diesels or if they're just over the MOT emission limit."

Ian
April 2002



Full schematic of the processor -- Bigger image.

How it works

Click on the images one by one for graphic presentation of the processor at work

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Above: Methoxide Mixer showing air tool for mixing, cap for adding caustic or manually feeding methanol. Top gate valve for sucking in methanol from source via transparent sighting tube. Right: Bottom of Methoxide Mixer showing valve to control feed to reactor and sighting tube, which is also used as methanol pickup pipe.

Detail of stirrer

Detail of bearing and coupler

Left: The pump assembly Right: The water trap

I use three of these for bubble washing. They are pneumatic exhaust silencers. They don't rot, they're cheap and they work very well.

"Top Hat" inspection hatch and Sulphuric Acid funnel (if using Aleks's Foolproof method)

Inside the FHT showing pickup filter and a bit of the immersion heater

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Biodiesel processors
Introduction
Scaling up
Hazards
Test-batch mini-processor
Simple 5-gallon processor
Journey to Forever 90-litre processor
The 'Deepthort 100B' Batch Reactor
Ian's vacuum biodiesel processor
Chuck Ranum's biodiesel processor
"Foolproof" method processors
The touchless processor
Joe Street's processor
Continuous reactors
How to make a cone-bottomed processor
Biodiesel technology

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Biofuels at Journey to Forever
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Biodiesel
Make your own biodiesel
Mike Pelly's recipe
Two-stage biodiesel process
FOOLPROOF biodiesel process
Biodiesel processors
Biodiesel in Hong Kong
Nitrogen Oxide emissions
Glycerine
Biodiesel resources on the Web
Do diesels have a future?
Vegetable oil yields and characteristics
Washing
Biodiesel and your vehicle
Food or fuel?
Straight vegetable oil as diesel fuel

Ethanol
Ethanol resources on the Web
Is ethanol energy-efficient?