Has anyone tried to make their own fuel?

[Dlowwoc]

I have all of the equipment and have made a few practice runs, but haven't worked up the nerve (or lack of thirst ) to dump it in the tank. What i have made thus far may not be hot enough at only 75%. Some Zeolite may be in order.




It's dangerous to distill alone, here take this:
http://www.ttb.gov/forms/f511074.pdf

the permit was free last time i checked. and i believe you qualify for an alternative fuel tax credit for each gallon you produce.

 

[ungawd]

I know people that make shine for consumption, but not for fuel. I imagine you would just have to run it through the distillation process until it's near purity. There's most likely a simple cheap test to determine it's purity. From my understanding with regards to the legality, whatever you make beyond so many gallons must be unsafe to drink. I imagine immediately mixing it with gasoline would keep it legal. I believe there is also a limit you can make annually. I'm a bit fuzzy on the specifics and they may only be those applied here in WV.

 

[$ub$onic]

We made our own diesel fuel for awhile. Well sorta .. we used the oil off our gas wells and filtered them down real fine to run in p pumped diesels. Ran in our farm tractors for the longest time. Also experimented with veggy fuel in my old Mercedes with great success

 

[ThatTmoGuy]

I've made veggie diesel before, I'd love to try making E85 but I have no idea what the process would entail.

 

[Dlowwoc]

From what ive read its just moonshine dryed with a dessicant and cut with gas.

 

[GeneralZod]

I have made bio-diesel, and would never try to make a gasoline version. Your biggest issue is H2O. At least with diesel there are filters and separators for this. This is not the case with gasoline engines.

You can cut the homemade stuff with additives to be less absorbent. Have you tried a settle test? I would run it on lawn mowers and other small engines.

Or even on cars with less emissions equipment. Had a friend light up his cat doing this.

 

[Dlowwoc]

I'm unfamiliar with any official testing process. I always burn a little and it's typically blue.

Is this the settle test you mentioned:
http://www.e85performance.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1203

 

[River_Rat]

I'm unfamiliar with any official testing process. I always burn a little and it's typically blue.

Is this the settle test you mentioned:
My first E85 test! - E85Performance.net - Discussion Forum for All E85 Car Owners

testing for alcohol content? i think a simple hydrometer does a pretty good job of that.

 

[Dlowwoc]

good call, cant believe i didn't think of that. i have 3 hydrometers on hand that I use for wine making, none of which measure higher than 35%. I'll have to look around for one that measures higher.

 

[GeneralZod]

testing for alcohol content? i think a simple hydrometer does a pretty good job of that.

It does, but my point was if it is visible forget using the batch or continue water removal. I got pretty good at making small batches of bio-diesel with trace amounts of water. Still, I didn't use it in the TDI. It went in the heavy machinery that laughed at slop in fuel.

The unseen water is damaging too. Then you have other contamination that can be as or more harmful. This is where using it on more forgiving platforms is the better choice.

 

[Swordsmith]

Haven't tried it but it does sound exciting. Not too sure what I'd use for mash though. Would be different if I lived in Florida where there's lots of sugar cane!

 

[ronarn]

I have all of the equipment and have made a few practice runs, but haven't worked up the nerve (or lack of thirst ) to dump it in the tank. What i have made thus far may not be hot enough at only 75%. Some Zeolite may be in order.




It's dangerous to distill alone, here take this:
http://www.ttb.gov/forms/f511074.pdf

the permit was free last time i checked. and i believe you qualify for an alternative fuel tax credit for each gallon you produce.

it just costs a little more to go to the gas station and you're less likely to be evicted if your place survives the explosion.

 

[ronarn]

spend the exrta .03 and go to the gas station...

 

[RS Turbo]

I've made veggie diesel before, I'd love to try making E85 but I have no idea what the process would entail.

Please tell us more about your diesel making .... How is it done? What did you use? how is the process ?

 

[$ub$onic]

Idk about tmo but when I ran veggie diesel in my Mercedes I took used veggie oil filtered it out and I added diesel fuel additive to it. But I was running it in a old p pump its not as picky as newer systems

 

[ThatTmoGuy]

Its actually a simple process of filtering used veggie oil

There is plenty of info on the web and last I checked Google was still free...

http://www.makebiofuel.co.uk/make-biodiesel-at-home

 

[RS Turbo]

I didnt ask for a google search, I could do that on my own...

You stated you did it and I was asking you about your adventure

 

[GeneralZod]

I didnt ask for a google search, I could do that on my own...

You stated you did it and I was asking you about your adventure

What Tmo is telling you, is that there are many steps and many ways to yield Bio-diesel. It can be as simple as filtering vegetable oil for bio fuel. Some diesels can run on straight veggie oil with as little as different injectors. Some use a hybrid of diesel and veggie oil to heat it up and then flush the fuel system of the veggie oil.

I made bio-diesel which is a chemical process. Having a chemistry background and an industrial career, I could get methanol and figure how to attack this. You need to do things like heat, mix the chemicals, and then 'wash' the product with water. Yes, water... You then need to remove the water. A byproduct is glycerin, which makes for a great degreaser. It is a rather large undertaking if you want to make gallons. And, if you want to see how, google and YouTube are a good start. What I listed above is very brief. A reason Tmo nicely pointed you to do research. My largest batches made there way into my excavator and backhoe. The exhaust smelled like Dunkin' Doughnuts was cooking Chinese food.

 

[ThatTmoGuy]

I didnt ask for a google search, I could do that on my own...

You stated you did it and I was asking you about your adventure

My adventure with it was brief, I helped a friend get his still going when he had no idea what he was doing. I had no idea as well but fortunately I have enough common sense to use Google to figure things out when I don't know them.

I for one don't feel like trying type out the process of something I did a few times nearly a decade ago. If you want to know more go figure it out yourself...