How to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel cheaply

[wheels]

=Beyond Biodiesel;257179]While it is true that other substances, such as: Sulfur, graphite, molybdenum, have been added to fuels and/or lubricants for increasing lubricity; nonetheless lubricity is generally a function of specific gravity, thus the reason why the petroleum industry has used the API gravity standard, which is based upon specific gravity.

No that is absolutely not correct. I can give you one very plain example as a for instance. Cutting Oils. You can have a cutting oil Viscosity ranging from very thin through to heavy oil, through to a thick grease. Yet they all allow a tool to cut. And yet I could use a thin lubricant and have the tool not cut so well. I can also take an Oil and add Kerosene to it and have a form of cutting oil.
Lubricity is a result of Elasto Polymer strength and that comes from Polar compounds and Aromatics in the Fuel. The problem in the Commercial Industry is that many of those compounds are removed when Sulphur is removed and Diesel needs to be "fortified"with an additive to bring it back to the industry standard.
I can not speak of the WMO side, but most likely that has enough compounds that do not get removed during Distillation, to act as an excellent lubricator. But for the ones that make Fuel from Plastic, that could be a serious issue and the only way to know for sure, is to have the Fuel it tested.
Lubricity Testing of Diesel Fuels
http://www.biodiesel.org/docs/ffs-pe...s.pdf?sfvrsn=4

[Beyond Biodiesel]

No that is absolutely not correct. I can give you one very plain example as a for instance. Cutting Oils. You can have a cutting oil Viscosity ranging from very thin through to heavy oil, through to a thick grease. Yet they all allow a tool to cut. And yet I could use a thin lubricant and have the tool not cut so well. I can also take an Oil and add Kerosene to it and have a form of cutting oil.

While doing post graduate research in Astronomy and optical sciences at the University of Arizona at Tucson I spent several years designing and building research equipment, which put me into the machine shop, so I have spent many hours running machining equipment, so I know for a fact that cutting oils are not used for lubricity, but for cooling the machine tool. Generally in machining the the more viscous the oil the more cooling it offers; however, there are other factors in choosing a cutting oil, for instance band saw blade is typically cooled with wax; whereas, an end mill cutter is cooled with 10-40 motor oil.

Thanks for the useful links on lubricity. You might find this link on that subject useful, as I have been keeping abreast of research on waste oil based fuels for about 9 years Lubricity of a diesle fuel blend

Over all we have to keep in mind people who make fuel out of garbage are not likely to make a superior fuel product. We are in most cases just trying to save some money, and we do not mind replacing our vehicle more frequently. And, it would be unwise to run garbage-based fuels in a new or expensive engine.

[wheels]

Beyond Biodiesel;257219]While doing post graduate research in Astronomy and optical sciences at the University of Arizona at Tucson I spent several years designing and building research equipment.


Over all we have to keep in mind people who make fuel out of garbage are not likely to make a superior fuel product. We are in most cases just trying to save some money, and we do not mind replacing our vehicle more frequently. And, it would be unwise to run garbage-based fuels in a new or expensive engine.

Dude, this is not a "mines bigger than yours" argument. The cutting fluid description is purely trying to show that viscosity has nothing to do with wear protection.
Many here may indeed just be trying to save money, although I don't see the point. if you end up wrecking a valuable engine. However, in this particular post instance, the Poster is asking a question that suggests to me that he is worried about the possible damage to Pump and motor.
But anyway, I have no interest, now time, in arguing points. This obviously is not the place for me. I will leave the Deaf to lead the Blind and move on.

[black]

Has any one got any experience with clay/bag filters like the twin canister type from jaxonfiltration.com?
I would like to know more about them for bleaching oil/fuel. I am sure there must be more of you that would like to get oil/fuel beter.
Is it only a filter bag filled with clay granules or powder that gets pumped from one canister to the second with a hydraulic pump or is it a continuous running batch system, that runs for hours or days?
How fine is the powder or granules?
What pressure and speed as per litres per minute? How many cycles hours or days?
Between these 122 pages some one said something about using any type of clay, is this doable?
When going to a quarry I always see these grey clay boulders that look like blue rock, can they be used?
How do one process it to the right product? Do I break/cut it down to blocks/pieces and heat it to 800 degrees Celsius for activation?
I know this is a lot of questions but hopefully different people can give there experiences or even comment some interesting facts about bleaching.

[Beyond Biodiesel]

Dude, this is not a "mines bigger than yours" argument...But anyway, I have no interest, now time, in arguing points. This obviously is not the place for me. I will leave the Deaf to lead the Blind and move on.

It appears that you are making it a "mines bigger than yours" argument. I am just providing factual information as you are attempting to do.

Has any one got any experience with clay/bag filters like the twin canister type from jaxonfiltration.com?
...How do one process it to the right product? Do I break/cut it down to blocks/pieces and heat it to 800 degrees Celsius for activation?
I know this is a lot of questions but hopefully different people can give there experiences or even comment some interesting facts about bleaching.

I have not used clays in any process related to processing hydrocarbons other than zeolites for cracking heavy feed stocks when I did post graduate research at Chevron Research. However, I would expect that the "activation" required for activating zeolites is most probably the same process for activating clays. Essentially the activating process is firing the zeolite to 1200F (650c) in the presence of O2 to burn off any carbon, then keeping it above 212F (100c) to avoid absorbing moisture until the catalyst is used for cracking, or the clay is used for absorbing whatever it is used for absorbing/neutralizing.

[rozier56]

production rate

Hi folks, if you have a retort of approx 300kg plastic fill and the reflux temp is held at 380-420*c with a good condenser,what influence will determine the production rate of the diesel?

[Excalibur]

Hi folks, if you have a retort of approx 300kg plastic fill and the reflux temp is held at 380-420*c with a good condenser,what influence will determine the production rate of the diesel?

Equation: if we take the volume of vapor generated by the retort and subtract the reflux influence, the sum is the production rate.

Of the vapor, the aim is not to be too low or too high in retort temperature. Too low will mean less vapor activity while too high risks boil-over. So I suppose the optimum is to be as high as you can with a reasonable margin below the boil-over threshold.

The reflux should be aimed at minimum refuxing to get the desired result. Extreme high reflux temperature will risk fuel waxing or too heavy a product. Extreme low will mean excessive refluxing, more heat energy requirement, too light a product weight and low production rate. So finding the right balance is the key to optimum production speed.

Also, target the heaviest diesel weight that your climate can handle. The system will make a heavier product faster than a lighter one simply because there is less refluxing. For example in summer I make .850 SG diesel while in winter I might drop to .830 ~ .840 SG., depending on how cold the weather.

BTW, am looking to do another run next week to test out some new bits. Am hoping to finally exceed the 20LPH barrier. There's another preheater to fit and yet another attempt at a retort level indicator device.

[rozier56]

production rate

Thanks excalibur,
1.how did you measure the vapor rate at retort and the reflux flow.

2.Is your reflux column"fractional" ie;filled with fillers or tube plates.

3.Sent you a email from your you tube site, pls view so i can send you info.
Derek

[Excalibur]

Thanks excalibur,
1.how did you measure the vapor rate at retort and the reflux flow.
2.Is your reflux column"fractional" ie;filled with fillers or tube plates.
3.Sent you a email from your you tube site, pls view so i can send you info.
Derek

Practically for us DIY, we can only measure the net production flow. Currently my reflux has broken terracotta/earthenware/brick pieces. I'll be inspecting it shortly.
I have just added a pic of the reflux media to DIYDiesel/reflux page so there is "before and after" pics..

[jonathan]

retort insulation

can someone help me to do diy insulation? i read beyond biodiesel forum my proplem is about sodium silicate...can someone upload a photo? i serch google but l find many different...thanks in advance

[wheels]

can someone help me to do diy insulation? i read beyond biodiesel forum my proplem is about sodium silicate...can someone upload a photo? i serch google but l find many different...thanks in advance

What is it that you are trying to do jonathan?
Sodium Silicate is a Powder and usually used as an additive to many things. Sodium Metasilicate is used in high temperature situations and often found as a paste form for repair to Vehicle Exhaust systems and Exhaust gasket/seal as an Exhaust cement. It can be used as an additive in Cement to increase the Cements resistance to heat.

[jonathan]

retort insulation

i want to do homemade insulation for retort i read in beyond biodiesel how to do it with 9 parts ash + 1 part crushed glass + 1 part sodium silicate..but i dont know what type of sodium silicate...thanks

[jonathan]

retort insulation

or can i use something else then sodium silicate? thanks all

[Beyond Biodiesel]

i want to do homemade insulation for retort i read in beyond biodiesel how to do it with 9 parts ash + 1 part crushed glass + 1 part sodium silicate..but i dont know what type of sodium silicate...thanks

Sodium silicate (30%) is the most common ingredient in most glues. It is just a binder that holds the particles together and is good up to 1200F (650c), so it is good for pyrolysis.

You can make a mud out of the 9 parts ash + 1 part crushed glass + 1 part sodium silicate and form your high temperature insulation around your retort. Plain old mud will work as well, but will not hold as well as the above formula.

It is my understanding that silica gel is sodium silicate, and it is easier to come by. So, you would dissolved silica gel at 30% in water to get your 30% solution of sodium silicate.

[jonathan]

retort insulation

thanks beyond biodiesel i will try that insulation thankssss a lot