[Biodiesel In Utah] Photos of our biodiesel processor..

[Andre Shoumatoff]

I snapped some photos of our processor up in Heber City if anyone is
interested, they are attached...  
 
Some details on the processor: the processor is basically an 80 gallon
appleseed style.  It came out of a house in Deer Valley so it was heavily
encrusted in calcium but we were able to get it out by removing the bottom,
using a hammer to free the loose calcium, and using a 3/4" pipe that we duct
taped to the hose of a shop vac, and vaccuumed all calcium out via the
heater ports..   We then added three ports by drilling holes and very
careful welding, 1 1/4" port added to the top and the bottom of the
processor, with another 3/4" (I believe) added to the side where we
installed one of Graydon's thermometers so ours is not inline.  We use two
pumps, a blue harbor frieght for glyercin removal only (but can be used as a
backup) and a 220 amp 2.5 hp hot tub pump.  It is a really neat unit that
literally fills the processor in 20-30 seconds(?) and also has a built-in
screen for chunks bigger than 1/8" or so?    We built the whole processor on
wheels so it can be moved around the room and we also put one big 220V - 50
amp 6 gauge cord to plug it in and it has its own small fuse panel...   In
all the processor itself has worked very well with only a few mishaps..  We
went through one pump by having the plastic hot tub impeller break.  We are
not sure if this is related to degredation of the impeller from chemicals or
if it from trying to move cold / gellatinous grease through.  My guess is
the latter...   And also, I left the processor mixing overnight once by
accident and it blew an o ring around the casing for the filter.  It was
literally a nightmare, 80 gallons on the floor and glycerin is very very
sticky and greasy..  This was only about two weeks ago or so...  So I am
trying to find a viton 6.5" o-ring but my guess is it was o-ring failure
rather than actual chemical degredation again...
 
For our grease: we then use a red close-headed barrel that we cut the bottom
off of and inverted for our pre-heater.  We welded a port and use a
household 110 amp plug (even though its a 220 element) for preheating the
grease to 75-80 or so.  this isn;t necessary now but in winter is 100%
necessary..    We have quick disconnects on everything and out tubes are I
think 1.5" diameter so fluids move fairly quickly...  And our wash tank is a
275 gallon tote that we built a metal frame for and wheels...  We use 4 or
graydon's wooden bubblers which also work well and one of his titanium hot
tub elements.  These work well too but seem to be by far the biggest power
draw of the whole operation so we are looking for an alternative to these.
But again they do work well and are easy to handle..   
 
then for grease collection, we use a tree stump hand truck that we modified
(with the welder again) for picking up barrells.  We scored a handicapped
lift from a truck and installed it into a pickup and moving 55 gallon
barrells, even by yourself doesn't seem like too much of a task.  All of our
grease has come from Summit and Wasatch counties for the most part so we
have lucked out in not needing the permit, but it would not be hard to get
one as well for us at least I believe..  
 
So that is it in a nutshell.  I think I'll add it to the UBC site, if anyone
has any questions let me know!  Andre
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