Sawdust & used cooking oil

[Zep 0]

Basically I'm looking for ideas,
At the present I'm generating monthly, 5 -6 coal size sacks of oak sawdust (from the chainsaw)
and about 6 gallons of used olive oil (from the fryers)
The oil I take to town to be recycled, an the sawdust I'm using as a mulch,

I had an idea to mix the oil with the sawdust, compress it an make sort of bricks for the fire,
the problem is oil wont dry, so how do I keep it together.

I'm already using some of the larger chips for the smoker

So I need some idea's for recycling.

Gone fishing

[cocheese 0]

Make a giant doobie with it and a newspaper.

[Squeak 17]

Quote

Basically I'm looking for ideas,
At the present I'm generating monthly, 5 -6 coal size sacks of oak sawdust (from the chainsaw)
and about 6 gallons of used olive oil (from the fryers)
The oil I take to town to be recycled, an the sawdust I'm using as a mulch,

I had an idea to mix the oil with the sawdust, compress it an make sort of bricks for the fire,
the problem is oil wont dry, so how do I keep it together.

I'm already using some of the larger chips for the smoker

So I need some idea's for recycling.

What about wrapping it in a material like absorbent paper toweling recycled of course, or as Cocheese suggested inadvertently, using old newspaper as a binding

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[DJL 235]

http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me4.html

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sawdust+furnace

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[Zep 0]

Hey Squeak, thats given me an Idea,
shred the newspaper, mix the oil with water to make an emulsion
soak the newspaper in the emulsion an mix again with sawdust
press into bricks an let dry,
I've got a ram from a JCB that I could use, make a mold an hook it up to the log splitter
(made from another JCB ram an pump)
Trial an effort will work out the proportions.

Come on keep the ideas flowing

Gone fishing

[Zep 0]

Thanks for the links, both great sites.
I do actually refine (strain) the cooking oil to mix with heating oil
1gallon of olive oil to 10 gallons of heating oil.
I don't have a fire furnace, I have an open fire place
which the sawdust bricks are for.
I tried burning loose sawdust but it just smothered the fire an made a lot of smoke


I can't put the oil in the SUV as I live in a rural place an the state police
often dip the fuel tank to make sure we're not running RED or home made diesel

Gone fishing

[warpedskydiver 0]

The resulting fire may burn too hot for your fireplace, be careful it does not crack the refractory cement, nor shatter the glass on the front (if there is glass)

Accelerants have no purpose in your fireplace

[quade 4]

Quote

I can't put the oil in the SUV as I live in a rural place an the state police
often dip the fuel tank to make sure we're not running RED or home made diesel

That's crazy.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[LongWayToFall 0]

Make biodiesel with the oil, there is no way they can tell if you bought it at the pump or are making it. Also, you can run duel tanks with a filler under the mat in your bed, and any cop would never know if you are running straight oil. If you were still interested in using it for your fire place, I think you need to grind up the sawdust more finely, so it absorbs more of the oil. If it came from a chainsaw, its more like shavings, rather than dust. Having a large press would help also to keep everything stuck together, maybe there is some sort of additive you can throw in there to give it more of a glue property? Like flour or something

[shropshire 0]

Quote

Quote

I can't put the oil in the SUV as I live in a rural place an the state police
often dip the fuel tank to make sure we're not running RED or home made diesel

That's crazy.

Why is it so crazy? Them government folks need their Fuel Taxes..


In the U.K you can make as much Bio-fuel as you like... so long as you pays y'dues (or don't get caught).

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[Zep 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

I can't put the oil in the SUV as I live in a rural place an the state police
often dip the fuel tank to make sure we're not running RED or home made diesel

That's crazy.

Why is it so crazy? Them government folks need their Fuel Taxes..


In the U.K you can make as much Bio-fuel as you like... so long as you pays y'dues (or don't get caught).

Not so crazy, the government hasn't worked out how to tax it.

Now if what the other guy said is right an you turn it into biofuel and the tank dippers can't tell the difference.....
then I've got a spare shed, an a trip to the local supply merchants ahead of me

Gone fishing

[LongWayToFall 0]

They would have to have a chemical they add to commercial biodiesel that they tested for, which you can bet people would start getting ahold of if they were testing. So, no way to tell.
This is probably the most simple reactor out there.... Enjoy!
http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/appleseedprocessor/

[Zep 0]

Quote

The resulting fire may burn too hot for your fireplace, be careful it does not crack the refractory cement, nor shatter the glass on the front (if there is glass)

Accelerants have no purpose in your fireplace

Ho ho, you haven't seen my fireplace, it's high enough for most people to stand in an wide enough to lie down in
When I get hold of them I burn cracked almond shells mixed with seasoned oak, if the refractory bricks an cement
can stand up to that kind of heat it'll stand up to just about anything.

That reminds me, now where did I leave that nafter

Gone fishing

[quade 4]

Quote

Not so crazy, the government hasn't worked out how to tax it.

In the U.S. the basic concept of law is, "That which is not specifically prohibited, is allowed." If they haven't figured out how to tax it and they haven't made a law specifically against it, in the US at least, it wouldn't hold up in court.

It is, to me, crazy, that people can find home grown solutions to their energy needs and some hammer head in city hall would start having tickets written.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[warpedskydiver 0]

NP, I was just concerned for the safety of your family and home.

[LongWayToFall 0]

Not that I agree with how taxes are organized, but anybody putting fuel into their vehicle should be paying road tax, as per law. So you can at least see where they are coming from. Other laws that prohibit making biodiesel include transporting the oil to your home, which requires a certain permit. Another is that if you plan to sell your fuel (or have a co-op) then you need to have another permit. Governor Schwarzenegger was recently contacted by the state regarding the fact that he was breaking the law by buying oil from costco and running it in his H1 humvee, and not paying road tax.

[quade 4]

How much in fuel road tax would a plug in electric pay? And how?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[jumpin_Jan 1]

The oil into vehicle idea has lots of data available online. This is a great idea if you are the source of the oil because you can monopolize yourself as the recipient. That is the flaw with the idea of everyone doing it, there is not enough used oil available for all of us.

RE: fireplace
I am not an expert but I think some oil would have a tendency to evaporate and re-condense in the flu/chimney of a fireplace.

This could become a fire hazard and/or a maintainance problem.

Oil furnaces atomize the oil in a regulated manner where an oil soaked woodchip log may not.

Why not build/buy an oil furnace if you can't use it in a vehicle?

I like your attitude and hope you find an efficient method for using the recyclables!


PULL!
jumpin_Jan

"Dangerous toys are fun but ya could get hurt" -- Vash The Stampede

[karenmeal 0]

I know that on VW diesels you can add a conversion kit and run on straight veggie oil (I would hazard an unknowledgeable guess that olive oil would also work) once the engine is heated up enough until about a mile before you hit your destination.

My boyfriend is going to be putting this conversion kit on his car in the next couple of months. He plans to get waste oil, filter it, and have pretty much free fuel!

"Life is a temporary victory over the causes which induce death." - Sylvester Graham

[Zep 0]

I am not an expert but I think some oil would have a tendency to evaporate and re-condense in the flu/chimney of a fireplace.>


Now that is something I hadn't thought about, good point

Gone fishing

[DavidB 0]

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... maybe there is some sort of additive you can throw in there to give it more of a glue property? Like flour or something

Wax. It's used in "fireplace logs" to bind the saw dust (much finer than chain saw shavings) & help it burn.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

[Beer 0]

If you convert the oil into biodiesel (not to difficult of a process), the glycerine byproduct can be mixed with saw dust to make logs that will burn for a considerable time.
Or it (the glycerine) can be made into soap or even composted.

Plenty of info on journey to forever

Learn to be happy. You can't be there for anybody else in life if you can't learn to be there for yourself.

[LongWayToFall 0]

Electrics don't have to pay a fuel tax because they don't burn fuel

[LongWayToFall 0]

What type of car? running straight veggy oil on certain vehicles can destroy the injection pump, and will eventually destroy the engine on all vehicles. The problem comes from the carbon deposits left behind by the burning oil, eventually they will either build up enough to stick a valve open (destroying the valve and engine) or foul the rings, making you loose compression and most likely damaging the piston and cylinder. Don't expect more than 100,000 miles out of the engine, with it probably failing around 60-80k. This is why it is best to do this conversion on older cars with easily replaced engines. (I plan on buying a rabbit diesel pickup for this very purpose).
If you decide to go ahead, make sure you do a good job of filtering the oil, and get some ph testers so you can test for the free fatty acid content of the oil, if there is too much it will erode the metal in the engine. Some research will give you what are acceptable levels

[mnealtx 0]

Actually, the biodiesel sites claim that it will actually help clean the engine, not gum it up. That solvent action is why they recommend changing fuel lines on older vehicles and changing the oil filter when you start using biodiesel and a few thousand miles later, to catch the 'junk' the biodiesel cleans out.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706