Monday, June 26
Oil processing tank setup
After a significant amount of fabrication guesswork, judicious
wrenching, and multiple trips to Home Depot and Loews, I was finally able to start processing used fryer oil (step 1 in making biodiesel). Now kiddies, don't try this at home, because your mama would slap you (and it would be called justifiable). This is a messy, gloppy, smelly process that includes getting used glop from very dirty fryers, by scraping the accumulated/settled stuff from the bottom of my mini-drums. However, since I can actually reach the bottom of a 10-gallon drum, and can't reach the bottom of a 55-gallon drum, I wouldn't want to think of how messy THAT is. It's not actually that repugnant, since it's like greasy, stinky wet sand, so it does handle easily. However, little bits of greasy breading tend to get on your clothes, arm and the ground surrounding the operation. The dark stuff in the carboy next to the drum is the gunk from two mini-drums, painfully extracted 1/2 cup at a time. Ick.
Something I hadn't counted on when preparing to filter used fryer oil is just how difficult it is to lift an 80 pound container up a ladder to a height of 8', and then carefully tilt and pour while not resting on the filtering rim (which can't take the weight). I think I might need to revise my process, though I don't want to spend any more at this point -- I'm already over budget, and the thought of buying a compressor or waste pump at $100 isn't sitting too well. I guess at this point I need to find someone that has a compressor they rarely use, and would let me store it in my garage and use it. Then again, that would also mean buying fitting and hose, as well as a bit more fabrication, welding and the like. Hmmmm... this is a much more involved process than the blogs and books would leave you to believe.
I've noticed a universal lack of details in how to actually process waste vegetable oil with tactical instructions. Sure, there are several threads that talk about sucking used oil behind restaurants into your mobile tank and sucking said glop back into drums in your processing center, but I've not found methods that treat the issue of managing the used fryer oil without investing in mobile tanks and significant pumps. Oh, yes, also investing in a truck. In the interim, I'll probably dump from the mini-drums into a 5-gallon bucket, which I can use to pour the oily goo while standing on the ladder, and will continue to rely on friends to help me get the oil from downtown to my driveway (which is less than optimal).
The issue of filtering and dewatering used fryer oil is where I hope the MidOhio Biofuel Co-op can help, by providing some facility and resources so I can contribute oil and get out filtered oil in 5-gallon carboys that are actually manageable.
