Growing biodiesel

[Thob]

Speaking of hobby, does anybody know where I can get a small quantity of seed suitable for growing in the North Texas area?  I'd like to try a very small plot on a hobby basis, maybe like a pound of seed or so.  I don't have a combine, press, and lots of acres, so I'm more interested in what I can plant and process "by hand", maybe something like a 3rd world country.  Which seems to be where we're headed.  I'm looking for an online retailer I can order it from.

Fuelfarmer - what variety do you grow?

[fuelfarmer]

We have been planting a variety of winter canola call Virginia most of the time. This year we also tried Sitro and Hornet.

[fuelfarmer]

Here is a time lapse clip of canola blooming. Not the best clip ever. This was my first try at time lapse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOVUCcEBWJc

[fuelfarmer]

Here is a youtube clip of a TV show where I "played" a canola farmer. The biodiesel story starts a 3 min. and our farm footage starts a 7:20 and runs to 8:52. My favorite shot is at the end of the show (13:23). We make fuel on the farm, but showing the canola crop was the main reason they filmed at our farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8odQH0Yzs5Q&feature=feedf

[BioHazard]

You've really got me thinking about this "growing fuel" idea. I just took a 300 mile trip down I5 and I can't even imagine how many acres of land going completely to waste that I saw along the way. Just imagine how many acres the strip of weeds and grass is between directions on the freeway for hundreds of miles. All that land just sits there rotting, or catching on fire when someone throws a cigarette out. I don't know how canola grows in our climate but imagine if we covered all that space with an oil crop, how much we could generate, without impacting food space at all. I wonder how the state would react if I asked to grow in this space. Probably tell me to get lost....

There is so much empty space going to waste in this country and we don't even realize it. Don't feel bad about filling a landfill, we have PLENTY of space for that....

And on the other side of the coin, I wonder how many acres of cattle feed we grow, without first taking the oil out of it for fuel...

[LowGear]

A slightly different approach.

I got these oil palms from the University of Hawaii when their grant was cancelled.  Out of 40, 38 are still alive.  (They don't hold up to mowing nor constant watering from a broken irrigation system.)  You don't need to get out of they're way while their growing.  The white stuff on them is soda water to kill the coquí frogs which were in a load of plants from Puerto Rico a few years back and threaten the entire island with noise pollution.  (You're asking why are people importing plants from Puerto Rico?  My answer is because international corporations would rather pour millions into the transportation industry rather than building a diverse economy in the areas they reap profits.  We spend a couple of hundred dollars a year on the farm here in control efforts.  But was it the Great Walmart of China, Home Depot or Kmart?)

Casey

[rcavictim]

Casey,

That tape measure might grow faster if you get it away from the shadowing effect of the plant.  BTW, I'm told to be careful to never overwater a tape measure. 

[mike90045]

..... The white stuff on them is soda water to kill the coquí frogs which were in a load of plants from Puerto Rico a few years back and threaten the entire island with noise pollution. .....

Soda water as in "carbonated fizzy water" or soda ash mixed into water ??

[LowGear]

Soda water as in "carbonated fizzy water" or soda ash mixed into water ??

It can be baking soda blown through an agricultural blower (even a battery pack hand held) or more often lime.  When it hits the wet leaves or it rains the dust turns to a low PH water.  The change of one point (so I'm told) in PH will kill the frogs but not the eggs which do not need standing water.  And prolific bastards they are.  I've asked a couple of people on the phone what the racket was in the background.  Coquí!

Of course as broadcasting PH lowing dust to control coquí is against some government agency rules so we are forced to do it only to counteract the acid rain from the volcano.  The recommended way is citric acid but that's a liquid and requires a more complicated delivery system and it burns some plants. 

My dream is that all rule making conspiracies committees have one person over 55 and one person that has lived the life that the committee is governing have equal voting powers.  But hey, I'm on a radical political rant and we're looking at different ways to grown your own oil.  And as we all know, there is nothing political about burning oil to produce power.

Casey

[Curbie]

Casey,

How long does it take for oil palms to mature to the point where you can start harvesting oil, and where part of plant is the oil harvested from?

Curbie

[Startomatic]

hi, i am a oil palm grower from Malaysia.

the tree will take less than 3 years to mature and bear fruits.

generally, well maintain palm tree can produce up 1 ton of fruit per acre of 50 trees per month. this give about 200Kg of palm oil. once pressed and filtered, it run straight on my Lister CS with preheating of palm oil fuel by the exhaust heat.

i have clocked my CS more than 4000 hrs without decoke driving a 3 KW Madwley fully loaded. palm oil has very short polymer chain and it doesn't coke up the engine that much.    

in Malaysia, the palm oil industry is very developed. all palm oil mill are energy self sufficient. empty fruit bunches after oil extraction is use to drive steam turbine for power generation and exhaust steam to sterilise the fruit.

kernel oil from the oil palm seed is separately process by refineries for medical grade alcohol and other uses.    

although getting a bad pres always, one has to come to Malaysia to see the scale and the very developed processing techniques use. most Malaysian oil palm owners are RSPO certified for supplied to EU market on the ground of it sustainability efforts.  

http://listerenginegallery.com/main.php?g2_itemId=5588
http://listerenginegallery.com/main.php?g2_itemId=5584

[LowGear]

Wow Startomatic,

The real thing!  Great looking trees and fruit.  I'll bet you have soil to grow them in.  Notice I didn't write "good" soil.  Camp Aloha was a lava flow around 150 years ago.  Any soil carries bragging rights around here.

More good news.  I was thinking that I got my trees two plus years ago but the properties tag reads 2-10-2010.  I'll be pleasantly surprised if I have fruit in five years. 

The bad news is you probably have a pest on your hands.  Not a stalker but a pest. 

Do you have photos of your engine and generating system?  And the oil extraction program?  And ..............

Thanks for sharing.

Casey

[Curbie]

Startomatic,

Thanks for the pictures and information, I lived in South Florida for 25+ years and don't remember ever seeing one, although I don't think I knew what to look for.

How is the harvesting done, manually by hand?

Curbie

[Startomatic]

Casey, Curbie,

the tree looks like a stumpy coconut tree. the trunk is much bigger in girth and doesnt grow as tall as the coconut tree.

haversting is done manually using a flat face 4 inch chisel attached to a cylindrical pipe for fruit below 6 ft. once the tree grows taller, you need a sickle knife attached to aluminum pole. tress can reach more than 50 ft at the end of 30~35 years life span.

as i said, we have a fully developed supply chain in oil palm cultivation. as a grower, you grow the tree and when it matures, there are company offering harvesting services, transportation to palm oil mill for oil extraction. even the fresh fruit bunch (FFB) price is determine on monthly average by the Malaysian government.

the smallest palm oil mills produce 60T oil per day while the larger one go up to 200MT per day

FFB is sterilize first with steam, individual fruit shake loose from the FFB. the empty fruit bunch (EFB) is use as biomass fuel.

loose fruit are then press in a twin screw press. each charging is about 6MT where you can 1.2MT oil on continuous basis.

in Malaysia, biodiesel production come to a grinding halt when western buyer alleged that we are burning food for the rich to drive while depriving the poor of food. the government then introduce 5% biodiesel into fossil diesel since Jan 1st.

palm oil is among the highest in oil content to weight. although i had toy with Jathropa in the past, it is not so promising comparing to the very hardy oil palm tree. and yes, the soil most suitable for oil palm cultivation is semi swampy soil with lot of sunshine. 

My CS modification is minimal, just a 3 way valve to start it on diesel, once the palm oil is sufficiently heated up by the exhaust manifold, i switch it over to straight palm oil. the oil from the mill need to be centrifuged filter to protect the fuel injection system though.

so far, the engine run like a clock work with no smoke.

if you need to know more on oil palm cultivation, it would be my pleasure to share my knowledge.

[Curbie]

Startomatic,

Thanks for your time and knowledge, very interesting education.

Curbie