Triangle Biofuels Blog

Update: May 3, 2008 -

Having just put down the Triangle Business Journal article which reads  ”Biodiesel may be North Carolina’s next energy hedge”, I see the “No Journalist Left Behind” paradox continues.  (Read the full article here: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2008/05/05/story2.html)   Apparently Frank Vinluan didn’t take chemistry in high school or college, nor did he bother to have anyone check his article.  The photo caption, which clearly shows a man standing in front of tanks clearly labeled as Methanol and Potassium Hydroxide, reads “David Thornton shows methane tanks at a biodiesel plant he is working on as design-builder in the Chatham County town of Pittsboro.”  Okay, last I checked, Methane (CH4) is a gas, while Methanol (CH3OH or MeOH) is a liquid.  You don’t use Methane to make biodiesel, period. 

Starting to get why I’m so irritated with the media? 

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I just finished watching “Modern Marvels” on the History channel, where they did a special on truck stops and truckers.  They finished the show talking about biodiesel and Willy Nelson.  “Great,” I thought, “some good press about biodiesel in the media”.  Except, once again as happens way too many times, the reporter equates straight vegetable oil with biodiesel.

To the layman, I can see why it’s easy to confuse.  Rudolf Diesel first invented his engine to run on Peanut oil, as the reporter accurately claimed.  However, for a reporter, who is suppose to research things before he reports them, even an extra 10 minutes using Google or Wikipedia in his investigation would have told him that the modern engine looks almost nothing like Rudolf Diesel’s engine, and that while it’s true that they can run straight vegetable oil, almost none do because it’s harmful for the engine. 

The other thing he would have found, as posted other places on this blog and our corporate website, is that straight vegetable oil (SVO) and Biodiesel are not the same thing. 

I’ll say it once more in more simple format: “Vegetable Oil Is Not Biodiesel“. 

So, what do biodiesel and straight vegetable oil have in common?  Biodiesel is usually made from vegetable oil.  But, in truth, biodiesel can be made from animal fats too, or people fat, for that matter.  Through a process called transesterification, vegetable oil is stripped and converted into Biodiesel (which is technically called a mono-alkyl ester).  This new chemical, trade named “Biodiesel”, is now more chemically similar to petroleum diesel, and has many of the same characteristics of it’s petroleum cousin.  It is even accepted by the EPA as an approved fuel and fuel addative, and has an ASTM standard (D-6751).  Vegetable Oil doesn’t have any of that.

See, Vegetable Oil is food, Biodiesel is fuel.

I bet I’ve heard this mistake seven or eight times in the media over the last two years.  Is there some kind of “No Journalist Left Behind” policy in the university system that I’ve not heard of?  Seems like there isn’t much pride or professionalism left in that industry.  So, get it right next time, Mr. Reporter.  Do the homework, research, confirm, THEN publish.

You’re not helping our industry by adding to the confusion that the average consumer already has about biofuels.    

Biodiesel has been around since the 1930’s (Yeah, really.  Check out the patent filings for it online). It is accepted by the EPA as a registered fuel for on-road use, mandated by law for use in all federal and state government vehicles, has been well tested and documented by dozens of universities and public transportation systems, has been used in Europe for over 12 years, and is now readily available in all 50 states.  Yet, every single diesel engine manufacturer that exists today will not endorse using B100 in their engines.  Why?

I bet we get 20 calls a week from people asking us if they can burn biodiesel instead of petroleum diesel in their car or truck.  The answer is typically a groaning “well, you can, but your vehicle engine warranty may be in jeopardy, so we can’t officially recommend it”.   Even though most of us at the plant run it in our vehicles, and all our trucks run pure B100. 

Since April of 2008, Biodiesel has been cheaper than petroleum diesel by at least 10 cents per gallon.  In some cases, it’s been as much as 50 cents cheaper. 

 Yet, diesel engine manufacturers, all of them, can’t seem to figure out how to make their engines run on B100.  Or can they?  Today (June 9th, 2008) just about every engine manufacturer I’ve researched will at least endorse B5.  In fact, some companies are SHIPPING their engines with a tankful of B5.  Yet, very few of them will support their engine running biodiesel blends over B20. 

I can accept part of the reason being that the fuel still isn’t in the petroleum mainstream and there are some specific handling requirements about it that differ from dinodiesel (gel points higher, oxidation, mild solvent characteristics, etc.).  But these are fuel handling problems that the petroleum industry and the retailer need to deal with, not the engine manufacturer. 

I find it interesting that we just made a shift to ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), which also wasn’t in the petroleum mainstream and has different handling and performance requirements (less lubricity, sulfur contamination issues, oxidation), yet there was no reluctance from the diesel engine manufacturers regarding ULSD.  Why?  Because it wasn’t an option.  The EPA mandated it, and everyone had to follow. 

Did the engine manufacturers change anything in their engines to accommodate ULSD?  No.  

Is there any fallout to using ULSD?  Yes.  Many mechanics we talk to are telling us of premature injector failure because of the lack of lubricity in ULSD.  Ironically, this is one of the major benefits to biodiesel (biodiesel has outstanding lubricity), and a beautiful case for why we should be using it in ULSD.  Instead, it’s barely mentioned by the diesel engine companies or the petroleum industry.

Why is that?  I can only assume it’s because the petroleum industry doesn’t make biodiesel. Yet.

So, how about it Caterpillar, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Volvo, Volkswagen, Mercedes, International, Mack?  When are you going to get off your collective asses and start supporting B100 for use in your engines? I can’t think of a better time to get an edge on your competition by producing an engine that was “Certified for B100″ and putting it in a high MPG 1/2 ton pickup or minivan.  Imagine a truck or minivan that could run on B100 and get 35MPG.  You could charge $40,000 per unit and not be able to keep up with demand. 

It all started about 9 months ago, we were putting together our plant, and we knew we needed to have a methanol recovery system.  We hunted around the ‘net and Biodiesel Magazine to try to find a ready-made solution to our problem.  There weren’t any, really.  Most solutions are custom built, cost in the six figure range, and come with almost no guarantee.  Our only other option we thought was to build a crude column still and chiller system ourselves.  It probably would have worked, but we really wanted a professional solution.

Enter RSI, or Recycling Sciences (http://www.recyclingsciences.com), located in Prescott Valley, Arizona.  They advertise a unit called the RSI-55BCF, which is specifically designed to remove methanol from biodiesel (and glycerine, according to the owner).  The cost?  Almost $60,000.00.  A great bargain compared to our other outsourced options.  The entire unit is skid mounted, and appears to be well constructed from the photos on the website.   We discussed the purchase of the unit with the owner (Dick) and his reseller, and explained that we intended to use it for methanol recovery from both our biodiesel and glycerine streams, and that we would like to be able to process in the 10-15 gallon per minute range.  We struggled a bit with whether or not Dick’s explanation about it met our specs, as he wasn’t very clear about the abililty of the unit to process continuously (even though it’s billed as such). 

We purchased the unit, were required to wire the entire amount upfront, and delivery took approximately 8 weeks. 

When the unit arrived, we immediately noticed that there was an auxiliary diesel fired heater (which we didn’t order or even know about), which was damaged in shipping.  We reported it to the shipper, and to Dick.  We didn’t need the heater anyway, as our biodiesel would be coming into the unit at about 140F.  Odd thing is, the RSI-55 is billed as being a portable unit (remember it’s on skids), yet with a diesel fired heater (and a later available optional chiller), which must be tied to a diesel tank and external vent pipe, I hardly see how that could be portable.

It got worse from there.  The unit was poorly labeled, the instructions were poor quality, and were filled with innacurate information (the instructions claim the unit is powered by 110VAC, yet the website says it’s 240VAC).  The remote control panel was connected with a long run of SJ cord and liquid tight flex.  This configuration didn’t meet code, at least in our state, and we had to connect it using a different method than the unit shipped with.

Upon closer inspection on the unit and inside it, we noticed that the unit wasn’t built with all stainless steel parts as we had been told (you can actually kinda see it in the web pictures, but we missed it).  It is clearly not biodiesel compatible.  There is copper tubing all over the place, and bronze fittings.  The valves seats and gaskets are not viton.   The inside of the unit has a 1/2″ copper tube with a bunch of little, tiny holes drilled in it where the biodiesel or glycerine would be “sprayed” into the recovery chamber under a vacuum.  The problem, in our opinion, is the holes were too small, and would clog when running glycerine through it.  Oddly, depending upon when you talk to Dick, the unit is either made to recover methanol from biodiesel, or from glycerine, but not both.  I had two different conversations where he said it wasn’t compatible with one or the other, even though I spefically told him we intended to do both when we ordered it.

We decided that we didn’t want to use it.  After many painful discussions with Dick about our concerns, which were not relieved by any measure, Dick agreed that he would accept the return of the unit for a 20% restocking fee (!!).   Ultimately we agreed, as 80% was better than not getting any money back at all, and we were certain at this point that the unit would not work.  (For reference, Pacific Biofuels also purchased one of these units.  Theirs didn’t work either, and is sitting boxed up in storage.  They laughed when I called them and told them our problem, and wished me luck in dealing with Tricky Dick.)

So then it starts.   We return the unit, which Dick claims is damaged (even though we crated it and framed it with 2×6s and the freight company driver stated that there was “no observable damage” on the ticket.  He emails me photos of the unit, which appears completely undamaged, and says it’s damaged.  He then says pieces are missing (a $65.00 sump pump he said costs $135.00, and two hoses) and won’t repay until we ship back.  I instruct him to deduct those amounts and refund the money ($55,000.00 * .80 = $44,000.00 less the misc parts). 

Instead, I get a credit memo (good for the purchase of my NEXT RSI unit!) for ~$33,000.00!!  So, we’re still in the middle of it, four months later.   We have since found a fabricator who is building a methanol recovery system for us.  One that is built completely of stainless steel, and that I have seen operating in another biodiesel plant.

So, if you’re building a biodiesel plant and are looking for a methanol recovery system.  I highly recommend looking at other options besides Recycling Sciences.  According to Dick, he has dozens of these systems operating all over the world.  But when I asked for references, he wouldn’t give any.  It was only pure coincidence that I just happened to know someone at Pacific Biofuels that I was talking to and found out they had purchased one in the past and had been burned also.