How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[Beyond Biodiesel]

HI, Jetijs
My question is about circular groove made in top lid and flange If instead of conical groove (45 degree) if a rectangular (90 degree)or square groove is made what may the difference in performance of lid and flange is there any type of leakage or any thing else
thanks in advance

We have discussed this issue numerous times in the past. While Jetijs is the OP for this thread, and deserves considerable respect for the courage to be one of the first DIY backyard pyrolysis techs, and posting a thread on it; nonetheless, he does not walk on water, his design was functional, had some good ideas, but could be improved upon, and many of us have done so. He also has not posted here anywhere near as much as others, so my guess is he has only run his unit a few times.

So, I happen to believe that reinventing the seal is unwise. Either purchase a standard flange pair, or fabricate them to spec. They have been tried and true for about 100 years; and you will be able to purchase standard seals that are designed for pyrolysis for just a few dollars.

[sunilkm153]

lid design

Thanks Mike and Romo
The reactor chamber is made out of an old 50 liter steel propane tank, we cut the upper part open and welded on an assembly so that the lid can be bolted on. The flat ring on that the lid is bolted on has a conical groove in it and the lid has an apropriate wedge machined on that matches that groove. The conical shape of these things elliminates the need of a seal, you just bolt the lid on and it will be airtight. I attached a drawing of the lid assembly.

HI, Jetijs
My question is about circular groove made in top lid and flange If instead of conical groove (45 degree) if a rectangular (90 degree)or square groove is made what may the difference in performance of lid and flange is there any type of leakage or any thing else
thanks in advance

[Beyond Biodiesel]

You are welcome jonathan.

[jonathan]

thanks so much beyond biodisiel for help you are giving to other l hope others upload photos of there system and results l will upload mine too but right know l am so busy l have to do a bubbler and try my system thanks everyone in this forum

[Beyond Biodiesel]

I understand your concern, but I tried to imitate imakebiodiesel design from THIS video with what i have around.

imakebiodiesel did more than just about anyone on this thread did on this project; however, his condenser section was always weak, so I would not repeat the flaws in others work just because they are the OP, or contributed a lot to this thread.

Anyway where is best to fit the K type thermo couple for the reflux, since i have only one for now for it and the other will go for the boiler. Eventually will buy more for the condenser when I move on to building my bigger unit. (this one is experimental only)

I installed a T at the top of each of my condensers. The TC goes straight through the cross bar and into the vapor stream in each condenser. The vapor stream has to take the turn of the T.

Hi to everyone,pls can somebody advise me at what temp the holding vessel for diesel should be after i have cracked at 360-380deg C.I am using waste motor oil as feed stock.Retort held at 380*c and temp at top of reflux column 360*c,then going to collection tank(DIESEL), this is where i need to know what temp required to ensure diesel phase.

In my experience I get diesel in the 100c condenser trap, but I still get significant amounts of kerosene at about 25c and gasoline at about 0c.

As a fuel blender for almost 7 years I have found that I can make an artificial diesel that runs just fine on a diesel engine by blending light fractions, such as: gasoline and kerosene, with motor oil and vegetable oil; so do not throw away your light fractions, because you can use them as well to make diesel.

[rozier56]

Thank you Excalibur,great response,will try the suggested temp range and give feed back when i can.

[Excalibur]

Hi to everyone,pls can somebody advise me at what temp the holding vessel for diesel should be after i have cracked at 360-380deg C.I am using waste motor oil as feed stock.Retort held at 380*c and temp at top of reflux column 360*c,then going to collection tank(DIESEL), this is where i need to know what temp required to ensure diesel phase.

This is an excellent question and I've been pondering over the answer to it as well. To be clear, you'll be wanting to keep the diesel at heat to drive the more volatile fractions downstream. In this way the diesel will gain stability with regard to its' boiling point for use in a diesel engine.

Wiki says diesel:
Contains hydrocarbons having a boiling point in the range of 180–360°C (360–680°F).
Is a mixture of carbon chains that typically contain between 8 and 21 carbon atoms per molecule

Looking at this says that diesel is itself a mixture of fractions, the most volatile of which starts to boil at 180*C. Therefore 170*C would be the upper most temperature I would consider however good results might be had with temperatures much lower. I think the sweet spot will fall into the 100- 175*C range.
I would use the lowest temperature that gives satisfactory results. One gauge of performance is how well a hot engine will restart after being left to sit for half an hour. The more volatile the fractions the fuel has, the more the difficulty. The reason is that the light fraction component boils and bubbles form in the fuel system.

[rozier56]

Hi to everyone,pls can somebody advise me at what temp the holding vessel for diesel should be after i have cracked at 360-380deg C.I am using waste motor oil as feed stock.Retort held at 380*c and temp at top of reflux column 360*c,then going to collection tank(DIESEL), this is where i need to know what temp required to ensure diesel phase.

[lowriderzzz]

I vote for: at or near the top.

thank you ....

[Excalibur]

Anyway where is best to fit the K type thermo couple for the reflux

I vote for: at or near the top.

[lowriderzzz]

On thermocouple placement, lowriderzzz, I have thermocouples everywhere on my pyrolysis unit. Each electric heater has one thermocouple associated with it, and I have three heaters per boiler and/or heated trap. I also have a thermocouple that goes through a compression fitting down through the lid into the fluid stream.

I still think you are asking for trouble trying to condense your fluid stream with water immediately after leaving the boiler at 800F (425c). What you will end up doing is pulling heat out of your boiler so that you will have trouble getting it to the cracking temperature and/or you will be boiling your condenser water, while coking and/or waxing your condenser line.

Each of my traps represent 100c drops from the boiler; and the distance between my boiler and my water condenser is about 9 feet (3M) of piping, trapping and insulation, so that my delta T across that 9 feet (3M) is not that dramatic.

I understand your concern, but I tried to imitate imakebiodiesel design from THIS video with what i have around.

Anyway where is best to fit the K type thermo couple for the reflux, since i have only one for now for it and the other will go for the boiler. Eventually will buy more for the condenser when I move on to building my bigger unit. (this one is experimental only)

[Beyond Biodiesel]

thanks beyond biodiesel for that upload files l will do a video when l was ready l wish to do the bubbler right now and test my system but l am so busy one of my family had cancer l am helping them so thanks again for every help

Sorry to hear about he health issues of a family member. We all do what we have to to make it through life, and family makes it all happen.

I am from South Africa and has followed this post for some time now.
There is a hell of a lot of HDPE & LPPE pipes lying around at the irrigation farms.
I would like to start with converting to diesel. I also look at using Gasifier's to run a Landcruiser engine to suply power. I have two Unimogs and can use the PTO to drive shreaders, chippers etc. There is also a hell of a lot of sawdust, wood chips etc.
The Idea would be to make wood pellets for running the Land Cruiser engine and then also wood logs to sell to the Kruger Park ad Barbeque wood.
All self sustainable.
It is a dream but I have the time.

Good to meet you dieter. It sounds like you have a lot of resources on hand, so it is a worthy project.

I too have lots of wood available. In fact a guy just dropped off 4 truck loads for free. So, I am very interested in a wood gas project. I do plan to utilize the uncondensable gasses to power a gasoline generator that I have to power my pyrolysis unit, but first I plan to run the wood-gas stream through my pyrolysis and condenser system to extract out all of the condensebles, which is what tends to fowl engines running on wood-gas.

On thermocouple placement, lowriderzzz, I have thermocouples everywhere on my pyrolysis unit. Each electric heater has one thermocouple associated with it, and I have three heaters per boiler and/or heated trap. I also have a thermocouple that goes through a compression fitting down through the lid into the fluid stream.

I still think you are asking for trouble trying to condense your fluid stream with water immediately after leaving the boiler at 800F (425c). What you will end up doing is pulling heat out of your boiler so that you will have trouble getting it to the cracking temperature and/or you will be boiling your condenser water, while coking and/or waxing your condenser line.

Each of my traps represent 100c drops from the boiler; and the distance between my boiler and my water condenser is about 9 feet (3M) of piping, trapping and insulation, so that my delta T across that 9 feet (3M) is not that dramatic.

[lowriderzzz]

where should exactly I put my thermo probe ?

I wonder is there a major difference in where i install my thermo probes/thermo couples.

Can you give me your opinion according to the picture regarding the reflux/catalyst column and the condenser too.

Which spot is most appropriate for the column ? - On top of the cap or on the side.

What about condenser ? - on straight top, or more close to where the vapours enter or after they are turned into liquid ?

Here is the pic

[dieter]

Newby

I am from South Africa and has followed this post for some time now.
There is a hell of a lot of HDPE & LPPE pipes lying around at the irrigation farms.
I would like to start with converting to diesel. I also look at using Gasifier's to run a Landcruiser engine to suply power. I have two Unimogs and can use the PTO to drive shreaders, chippers etc. There is also a hell of a lot of sawdust, wood chips etc.
The Idea would be to make wood pellets for running the Land Cruiser engine and then also wood logs to sell to the Kruger Park ad Barbeque wood.
All self sustainable.
It is a dream but I have the time.

[jonathan]

catalyst

thanks beyond biodiesel for that upload files l will do a video when l was ready l wish to do the bubbler right now and test my system but l am so busy one of my family had cancer l am helping them so thanks again for every help