NationStates Jolt Archive

I drive a diesel car, and when I saw the mythbusters episode on running the diesel mercedes on cooking oil I was intrigued.

I am interested in trhe cooking oil, however biodiesel seems to be better. No heater, not added complexities, no modifications, etc. However, the complexities of making biodiesel confound me. Anyone here know anything about it?

Smoking while making it is probably a bad idea, but beyond that I recomend teh google (www.google.com).

I've heard of a process where you can take garbage, actual garbage, and turn it into fuel that can be used by the combustion engine, can anyone tell me what that process is called?

I've heard of a process where you can take garbage, actual garbage, and turn it into fuel that can be used by the combustion engine, can anyone tell me what that process is called?

Alchemy.

Alchemy.

It involves heat....I think. Dammit I lost the newspaper article on it.

I've heard of a process where you can take garbage, actual garbage, and turn it into fuel that can be used by the combustion engine, can anyone tell me what that process is called?

Thermal Depolymerization. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization)

Thermal Depolymerization. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_depolymerization)

There we go. You know, I may buy a 4 cylinder Lycoming engine with a fuel tank to see if this is also a viable method of alternative fuels. :)

I've heard of a process where you can take garbage, actual garbage, and turn it into fuel that can be used by the combustion engine, can anyone tell me what that process is called?

I'm not running my car on trash!

I drive a diesel car, and when I saw the mythbusters episode on running the diesel mercedes on cooking oil I was intrigued.

I am interested in trhe cooking oil, however biodiesel seems to be better. No heater, not added complexities, no modifications, etc. However, the complexities of making biodiesel confound me. Anyone here know anything about it?

Use Google, look around. There's a web site by someone called Girlmark (http://www.girlmark.com/) that does well in explaining the processes.

I'm not running my car on trash!

Why not? It's perfect! We have landfills, and we need a way to get rid of our trash. We also need alternative fuels because we want to free ourselves from the Fossil Fuels, so it's win win!

I'm not running my car on trash!

You'll be surprised what you'll run yoru car on when you have to.

Trash Fuel can be refined to run on our current technology.

Trash Fuel can be refined to run on our current technology.

Lot's o' stuff can be refined to run on our current technology. The problem is flow rates and EROEI.

Lot's o' stuff can be refined to run on our current technology. The problem is flow rates and EROEI.

explain the flow rates and EROEI problem please.

Hmmm... how are you going to heat up the trash?

Hmmm... how are you going to heat up the trash?

Have a big ass cylinder dvided up in half. The top half is where the trash will shit, the bottom one will be the fire. The fire will be fueled by Methane as well as charcoal. I do need to find out how hot it has to be for this to work.

Have a big ass cylinder dvided up in half. The top half is where the trash will shit, the bottom one will be the fire. The fire will be fueled by Methane as well as charcoal. I do need to find out how hot it has to be for this to work.

Then the EROEI problem would be how much you have to spend on methane and charcoal to get 1 lt of biofuel and how long will that lt of biofuel last in your car, and the flow rate would be how long it takes you to get 1 lt of biofuel.

Why not? It's perfect! We have landfills, and we need a way to get rid of our trash. We also need alternative fuels because we want to free ourselves from the Fossil Fuels, so it's win win!

I love my car more than that.

Now refined landfill trash...

I'll stick to Biodiesel for now. My mechanic is already trying to hang himself.

explain the flow ratesWhat if I told you that I was going to give you a bank account worth $1 billion? Would you be rich? What if I told you that you can have the bank account but that your spending limit was $5/day? Are you still rich? The same is true of energy. For example, a 50 billion barrel oil field that is so deep in the ocean and under so much rock and who pressure is too low may not yield flow rates that are fast enough to make them worth exploiting. The article talked about a thermal depolymerization plant that was going to produce 500 barrels/day. that's like enough for five gas stations or something. Gwahar in Saudi Arabis puts out 4 million barrels/day. The US needs 21 million barrles/day to continue fumctioning the way it doe right now to say nothing of future growth. and EROEI problem please.
Energy Return On Energy Invested. It takes energy to get energy. Historically, the return on oil has been as high as 100/1, meaning that for every barrel of oil we put into the process of producing oil we get 100 barrels out. That's why energy has been so cheap for the past century or so. Today that ration on oil is as low as 8/1. I've seen no process that comes close to that. Ethanol is about 1.5/1. This means that, once oil is gone and we are using ethanol to make, transport and refine ethanol we will have to produce three barrels of ethanol to deliver one barrel to the market. This means it will be expensive and much more scarce than oil.