Re: Complete seed to fuel processor being built by Verde Biofuel

Verde Biofuel is about to begin construction of a custom, 36' mobile seed-to-fuel processor for a client in North Carolina. We will keep you updated on this post as construction begins. You can also google us for more updates or watch our videos on You Tube - while our new website is about to go live.

We appreciate any comments or concerns from anyone who has experience with a similar system.

Regards,

Contact Us:

Verde Biofuel

 36' mobile seed-to-fuel processor

We appreciate any comments

I have another one but Im sure its much harder to answer...  Lets say that the EROI of soybean biod is ~ 3.0. Do you have an analysis on EROI of your process?

Ok one more.  A large amount of water is used in making Biod. If the unit is portable, where does the water come from and how do you ensure its quality fits into the parameters of use?

Do you have a plan to clean the crude oil from the press? That seems to take a lot of time or money.

Hello Froggy and thank you for your reply. These are good questions and we will answer them the best we can. In terms of a seed-to-fuel processor, we have never built one of these before, so any ROI projections would be purely theoretical. Nor have we actually seen one other than in large corporate facilities. This particular processor is being built for a government related entity strictly for educational purposes. This can serve as a proving ground for future R & D and will most likley determine it's consumer practicality.

froggy

My assumption here is that the cap and operation costs/gal of product is much higher than that of a stationary facility. If that is true and stationary facilities are folding like a lawn chair left and right, what is the value of a process such as this?

Speaking in terms of a "standard" biodiesel processor - not a seed-to-fuel - the benefits of a mobile processor are numerous, from our experience as well as our customers:

• they are mobile (obviously)
• less code restrictions ( at least out here in the west)
• they are safer, not having to be enclosed in a building
• easy to clean
• we have customers that use these at construction job sites.
• if you move you can take your processor with you without having to tear it down
• they are easier to resell.
• the list goes on and on

As far as production cost goes, there are no additional costs incurred simply because it is mobile, unless you are in a remote area and have to store water and use a generator (diesel of course!). We collect our own grease and make our diesel for about $1.00/gallon.

froggy

Ok one more.  A large amount of water is used in making Biod. If the unit is portable, where does the water come from and how do you ensure its quality fits into the parameters of use?

Yes, quality water is needed for quality fuel and therefore you would need to have a good water source, or transport you own water.

Thank you,

Jason

fuelfarmer

Do you have a plan to clean the crude oil from the press? That seems to take a lot of time or money.

Hello farmer,

I spoke with our engineer and we are a little confused by your question. If you are referring to the fuel, there is a filtering process the oil goes through before it is turned into biodiesel.

Hope this helps,

Jason

In addition to filtering (or settling) out  the fines, you may need to degum the crude oil after pressing to remove water soluble substances. This is accomplished by treating the crude oil with a small amount of water to hydrate the phosphatides and make them separable by centrifuge, or decanting. Soybean oil is the most common oil to be degummed, but there are other water soluble impurities that can affect transesterification, and other feedstocks may have more or less of them.

Might be something to look into if the fuel resulting from your process needs to meet ASTM D6751.

Just a thought,

Bob in Moncure

Oil from a press will have fines or sludge. The stuff will settle over time if you have the time to waite. If you want to press oilseeds and make fuel in a continous process the oil will have to be cleaned in a filter press or centrifuge.

I know it's been awhile since our last post, however this project has been interesting to say the least. Our trailer arrived from Pace this week and hopefully next week we can begin installation. Dennis and John have built almost an entire mini-replica of the processor to work out any kinks. The seed press seems to working great and John is designing an automated process that will re-press the cake while keeping it hot. Later this week we will test our new centrifuge.