A 30 Gallon Demo Processor | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures I used to sell it with.
Description:
I originally built this processor before some of my other processors with full intent to use it as a demonstration processor to haul around
to special biodiesel events. After I began making it I revised my plumbing layout a little so I decided to sell it. I sold it
at a reduced price and boy did it ever sell fast! It only lasted 3 days once it went up for sale.
It was based on a new small 30 gallon hot water heater and utilized several of the items we sell including our
1" clear water pump, 1/2" temperature gauge,
3/4" quick connect sets, 3/4" ball valves, 1/2" ball valves,
and our 12 gauge processor cord. It's a great little unit. So great, in fact, that
I'm in the middle of making another one for small biodiesel events using our new plumbing layout.
A 40 Gallon Demo Processor | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures of the unit
Description:
I had a brand new 40 gallon water heater sitting in my garage through the winter of 2005-06. It was just taking up space so I decided
that it was time I had my own unit again (I sold my very first unit and all the other's that I'd made since then). This unit
will ultimately live in a new shed that's going behind my place. It'll become my demo processor as well as my personal unit to make
biodiesel in to feed my Diesel Fleet of Really Old Diesels.
I have a standard plumbing layout that I've really become attached to and am continuing to use on all the units I build.
This unit started it's life as a GE 220 Volt Electric Water Heater from Home Depot. I converted it to a 110 volt unit
using one of my
1500 Watt Heating Elements, my
Heater Element Wrench and one of my
12 Gauge 110 Volt Power Cords. I also utilized
several of the products I carry in building this, including
some Banjo Quick Connects,
3/4" Ball Valves,
1/2" Ball Valves,
a 1/2" Check Valve,
a 3/4" 30 PSI Pressure Relief Valve,
6 rolls of Yellow Teflon Tape,
Several different style hose barbs,
a 1/2" Thermometer,
a 1" Clear Water Pump,
3/4" Elbows-both Standard & Street Style,
lot's of 3/4" and 1/2" close nipples,
several T's,
bushings,
a 3/4" Union,
3/4" Pipe Lengths,
lots of hose clamps,
and a 5 Gallon Carboy to mix the methoxide in.
I also made a 55 gallon wash tank that goes with it as well. Together the units will be a really nice addition to
the new shed that's coming and will be a nice way to show off how to make biodiesel.
A 100 Gallon Processor!! & (4) 55 Gallon Wash Tanks | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Several pictures of the finished system
Additional pictures plus video footage of the unit
Description:
This unit was unique. My client wanted to be able to make a lot of biodiesel at a time. To accomplish this I plumbed two 50 gallon hot water
heaters together into a single unit. I customized the plumbing especially for this unit to use a single pump. The unit processes biodiesel
in each of the tanks. My client processes a batch in one tank and while it's processing the other tank can be heating oil for another batch.
To handle all of the biodiesel to be made, I built 4 wash tanks based on my stand-pipe wash tank design.
My client built all of the wooden carts for everything to sit on and we built the wash tanks together. The complete system really turned out well.
I've been asked by several people for the plans to this unit. Below are the plans but with some modified plumbing. We've discovered that you only
need to use one methoxide inlet so in my sketch I've moved the methoxide inlet inline with the pump intake. This modifies the design a bit but
still works extremely well.
Click here for a printable sketch of the plans (132 Kb PDF)
The Christian Science Monitor did a really nice article on my client a while back
Click here to see the great article they wrote
Biodiesel Processor Building Workshop - December 3, 2005 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures from the Processor Workshop
Files From Workshop:
Below are links to web versions of the hand out's I used at the workshop.
Processor Diagram Labelled--Hand Drawn Version
Processor Diagram Unlabelled--Clean Version
Processor Parts Breakdown--Excel Format
Description:
In Dec. of 2005, in cooperation with the Utah Biodiesel Cooperative, I put on a workshop to show how to
build a basic Appleseed Style Biodiesel Processor. The version that I build is called a "Riverstones" processor because it's based so closely off of
Jack Jones Appleseed Style Processor.
The event was on a Saturday afternoon on a cold, wintery day but even considering the weather, turnout was great.
My apologies ahead of time for some of the blurry shots.
Warner Brothers "Unaccompanied Minors" Movie Set - Feb. 2006 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Picking Up The Stuff
The "Homebrewers" Garage
The "Homebrewers" Office
The "Homebrewers" Mercedes
Description:
In early January, 2006 I was contacted by a Warner Brothers Motion Pictures set designer about Biodiesel for the movie
"Unaccompanied Minors". I spent several hours on the phone and at my location consulting with them on the finer points of Biodiesel.
One of their characters in the movie was a "Biodiesel Nut" and they needed some expertise on Biodiesel so they contacted me.
I worked with them to make sure everything was as authentic as it could be. This included renting them actual homebrewing
Biodiesel equipment which they then used in the set for the movie. They also purchased two Mercedes Diesels for the show based
on my recommendation and then plastered the thing
with several of my Biodiesel Decals. I helped them set up the office, the garage, and the Mercedes
for the movie. I had an absolute ball and even spent a really late night on the set.
Biodiesel Forum - April 10th, 2006 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures from the 2006 Biodiesel Forum
Description:
On April 10th, 2006, we held our 2nd Annual Biodiesel Forum in Utah. As with the first one, our goal was to help educate the public on what biodiesel
is, how it can be used, and give people a chance to hear some real-life stories from people who are actually using it. Turn out for 2006 wasn't as
big as 2005, but the quality of the presentations was incredible! Once again, we're continually committed to spreading the word about biodiesel and
all of it's benefits to any that will listen!
The event turned out really well and even received some positive media coverage from FM 90 KUER, a local Salt Lake City public radio station.
You can hear the report that aired over the air waves by clicking here! (6.7 MB MP3 File).
Biodiesel Workshop - May 12th & 13th, 2006 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Day 1 - Processor Building
Day 2 - Brewing Biodiesel
Blog Posts
Day 1 - Getting all the kinks out
Day 2 - Time for fun!
Description:
On May 12th & 13th, 2006 I hosted a Biodiesel Workshop in downtown Salt Lake City. The workshop was put on by
Biodiesel Homebrewing Expert, Maria Alovert a.k.a. Girl Mark.
The workshop spanned two day's and was so popular that we ran out of room and had to turn several people away. People came from
all over the United States and Canada. We even had one participant come from as far away as New Zealand. I was amazed!
The first day we concentrated on building Biodiesel processors and going over the equipment needed to produce Biodiesel. Day two
was devoted to teaching participants how to make great, high quality biodiesel. Every participant was able to perform a titration on
waste oil several time, brew a small batch of Biodiesel, and perform multiple quality tests.
Local Biodiesel: A Biodiesel Coop Conference - July 15-16th, 2006 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures from the conference.
Blog Posts
My conference report
Description:
In July of 2006 I helped plan a successful conference held in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado School of Mines. Our goal
was to create a conference where people belonging to Biodiesel Cooperatives as well as homebrewers could come and learn more
about how to successfully promote Biodiesel and sharpen our craft. The turnout was so great that we even had to turn people away.
It was really fun for me because I was able to meet some of my Biodiesel mentors and peers all in one spot. I also
met several of my customers which was a total rush. It was also at this conference that I met Danny Lesa & Greg Garrison of
SSI Energy, manufacturer's of the BioPro line of Automated Biodiesel Processors. Needless to say, I was in hog heaven!
SSI Energy Company Visit - August 17th, 2006 | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures from SSI Energy's Visit
Description:
On August 17th, 2006 we receive a really cool visit. Greg Garrison, President & CEO of
SSI Energy, manufacturer of the
BioPro 190 that we carry stopped by to meet us. We had recently
become a dealer for the BioPro 190 and were excited that they'd take the time to come and
visit us.
Greg was really personable and even took a ride in my old diesel Vanagon. He also even helped
pack orders and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. We literally spent hours out in
The "Warehouse" by my BioPro talking Biodiesel. We had a great time and
around midnight we finally called it a night.
World Famous Biodiesel Processor Carboy Stand (Pat. Pending) | BACK TO TOP
Pictures of my "World Famous Caroby Stand"
Description:
One day I was metering a biodiesel processor and I needed something to stick my carboy full of water on. A few weeks before I'd just
got a huge shipment of my processor pumps in and they were sitting right next to the processor. Well, being
the industrious guy that I am I thought, "Huh, that'll work!" and I stuck the carboy on the pumps.
I thought it was so funny looking, and I'd just gotten a ton of criticism about having my carboy's mounted too high on my processors that I
thought it'd make a humorous picture. So, I grabbed the camera & started shooting. Then I threw pictures of it
out on a forum for all of my
biodiesel friends & I to laugh at and the "World Famous Carboy Stand" was born!. Enjoy the laugh!
1984 Isuzu Pickup Diesel --My pride & joy | BACK TO TOP
Galleries:
Pictures of my 1984 Isuzu Pickup
More pictures of my Isuzu complete with biodiesel decals on the back
This has been by far my favorite diesel to date. It's a 1984 Isuzu Diesel Pickup Long Bed. It has a 2.2 liter diesel engine in it
connected to a 5 speed manual transmission. I've had it for a few years now and love it. When I purchased it, the clutch wasn't working,
but a little fenagling with the clutch cable and I was back in business! It was terribly filthy when I got it, but a good cleaning turned
it into a fine vehicle.
If you spend much time in the biodiesel forums you'll probably hear me bragging about how much I love this truck. Because the engine is
so simple and so robust, they're incredibly reliable little pickups. It's never stranded me and has run on biodiesel now for over 2 years.
It's one of the top diesels in my book. I still own and drive this truck on a fairly regular basis.
This vehicle is unique in that I think it's the slowest thing on the face of the earth. With a top speed of about 55 MPH, this thing
has received a nickname, "The Mighty Blue Snail". When I found this beauty, it'd been sitting in an auto body lot since 1995 and had sat
for 10 years. The body only has 65,000 miles on it and it was owned originally by an 80 year old man that drove it to his cabin and back
or towed it behind a motorhome. When I got it (as the pictures show) it was terribly dirty but the engine fired right up and I'm currently
in the process of fixing it up and getting it "road worthy" again.
My wife absolutely hates the thing, but I think it has a lot of "character". Something interesting about it....when I brought it home it
had this disgusting oxidation all over it. I thought for sure the paint job was doomed, but with a little soap and water and some elbow grease
the oxidation washed right off. Once I'm done fixing it up and getting it running well, I'll probably repaint it, restore it as much as possible
and let someone else pick it up as their own pride and joy (wife's orders). But, until then, enjoy these great pictures of it!
I thought it was so cool that I took a bunch of pictures of it to show off to my biodiesel friends back home. So, now that I'm organizing
all of my Biodiesel pictures I thought I'd throw these up too. Very cool!
The "warehouse" isn't really that big, just a 20 X 10 shed, but it does the job of housing the majority of the items we sell quite well.
We also have a rented storage shed off site for excess inventory as well as we're continually looking for more space. We still run the business
out of our home in Syracuse but hope one day to be able to move off-site to a larger, more "purpose-built" facility. Until then our
"warehouse" storage shed will have to do.
