Rancher demonstrates biodiesel production, ARFuels secures $200m WA sales agreement, Senator sets his sights on biodiesel

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The government will prioritize the production of crude palm oil to ensure blended biodiesel fuels are price-competitive with standard subsidized diesel, the ...

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... City Light is buying low-emission biodiesel fuel for use in state ferries and in Metro buses, and it's hooking up cruise ships to electricity in port so they ...

Rancher demonstrates biodiesel production
Baker City Herald - Baker City,OR,USA
... $200 worth of homemade equipment, some chemicals and the used french fry grease from 22 restaurants, Don Williamson can turn waste into biodiesel fuel for less ...

With about $200 worth of homemade equipment, some chemicals and the used french fry grease from 22 restaurants, Don Williamson can turn waste into biodiesel fuel for less than 50 cents a gallon.

Last week he demonstrated his operation, which he transports on the back of his biodiesel-powered pickup, in the parking lot of the Sunridge Inn.

Williamson was one of three presenters at the Oregon Environmental Council's Forum for Agriculture and the Environment.

Williamson, a rancher from Gilliam County, makes homemade biodiesel by first heating used vegetable oil for about two hours. He then screens out impurities, including pieces of french fries, then mixes the hot oil with methyl oxide and potassium hydroxide with a giant homemade mixer. Thirty minutes later, the mixing's complete.

The mixing stage is crucial to the success of the batch. Williamson uses large paddles he's attached to a 1/8 horsepower motor. The paddles turn 1,700 times per minute.

"It takes a violent chemical reaction" to turn the goop into biodiesel, he said. "What I'm after is a violent vortex. You can see the chemical reaction occurring."

The assembled crowd watched as what started as a thick black substance was 30 minutes later beer-colored biodiesel that looked and smelled like fuel.

Even biodiesel byproducts can be readily used in a farm or ranch operation. The meal that separates out of the fuel is 42 percent protein and can be processed into a protein supplement for cattle. One chemical byproduct, potassium hydroxide, stays in liquid form and can be used as a fertilizer.

Williamson said the system he designed two years ago improves on others in that it's open on top, making it easy to view throughout the process. When the chemical reaction isn't going right — for example, if water creeps into the system — the batch is ruined. Williamson can eyeball how each batch is going, and add more chemicals if it's not proceeding as it should.

Williamson can produce about 50 gallons of biodiesel per hour at an estimated cost for materials of 46 to 48 cents per gallon. He uses the product in his tractor, his pickup, in his irrigation pumps, and to heat his home and shop.

He said he's noticed an improvement in horsepower between 5 and 10 percent since he switched to biodiesel.

One caveat: don't use biodiesel in a vehicle manufactured before 1990. Biodiesel "is hell on rubber parts," especially fuel lines, he said. But since 1990, most vehicle manufacturers have shifted to synthetic rubber parts.

Swapping out fuel lines and other parts that come in contact with fuel is only a $4 job, Williamson said.

While his main input is used restaurant oil that he gathers for free, Williamson said that rapidly rising diesel prices (selling commercially at about $3.40 per gallon) will one day soon make it profitable for farmers to grow canola and crush it.

One day, he predicts, each rural county in Oregon will have its own canola crushing cooperative to process the crop into biodeisel.

That may be so down the line, says Baker County OSU Extension Agent Corey Parsons, but practical problems might impede area growers considering trying canola as a crop in rotation with, for example, potatoes.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture requires a three-mile buffer zone for canola, he said, for fear its seeds will mix with other crops.

"The Baker Valley would fill up pretty fast" under those rules, he said.

But irrigation requirements for canola are such that farmers can use their late-season water on other more valuable crops, including alfalfa and potatoes.

In the end, market forces will probably dictate how much canola is grown locally, he said.

"If farm diesel prices remain at $3.25 a gallon or go higher, then it will become economically viable" to grow canola, he said.

 

ARFuels secures $200m WA sales agreement
Ninemsn - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Biodiesel producer Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd (ARFuels) has secured a $200 million sales agreement with West Australian-based fuel distributor, Westfuel. ...
See all stories on this topic

Senator sets his sights on biodiesel
Knoxville News Sentinel (subscription) - Knoxville,TN,USA
NASHVILLE - Tennessee has a chance at becoming a major biodiesel hub because of the state's interstate highway system and ample land for increased soybean ...

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