Hi,

I'm a newbie here, and a newbie to biodiesel.

I'd like to know if there is anybody in the South Florida area who would be willing to show off their bio diesel operation, and who might also be interested in helping me to decide on and design/build a system here in the Bahamas. I live in the Abaco's. 

I've done some reading up on the subject so far, buy quite honestly I am much better with a hands on approach to learning. 

Anyway, if there's anybody that would be willing to help out, please holla back at me. I'd be willing to go through a get-to-know-you-better period, so that we'll all feel more comfortable with each other if necessary. But I will be honest with you, I'm one of the coolest people you will ever meet.

Thanks. 

 Hey thebilger, I'm from northwest Florida but saw your post. We've been using  vegetable oil 

/biodiesel unit that belongs to one of our county commissioners. It goes for $8,000 new but is a slick unit with all sorts of built-in controls so basically all you have to do is filter the used vegi oil and put the methanol, sulfuric acid and NaOH in the unit in the right amounts, push a button and away you go. However, here's what we've found: the  greatest limiting factor is finding a source of used oil. The commissioner knows everyone so it is easy for him but that is one of the first things you need to find out for your situation. The second thing is the cost of the methanol which, the last time we bought it in a 55 gal. drum was $300 which translates to about $5.45 per gallon of methanol. It takes 10 gallons to run a batch of oil > bio so, $54 for 45 gallons or so of finished bio. I am seriously considering adding a second tank of about 5 gal. to hold the bio and using my current fuel tank for cleaned vegi oil. I'd have to add a heater and so on but that is sounding better to me all the time; fewer chemicals and less expense. You have to run the vehicle long enough to fill the fuel lines with bio, get the vegi oil out, so you can start it the next time on bio. This is something to think about anyway.

Good luck. 

Are you looking to just make small batches for yourself or are you looking to go into small scale commercial production?