Anyone making fuel @home?
 

Just wondering if anyone here is distilling methanol or ethanol or doing plastic pyrolosis @ home?
Other methods?

A quick search shows it does seem to be happening:

fuel from solar methanol ethanol at home diy
https://www.google.com/search?q=fuel...t=gws-wiz-serp

diy plastic pyrolosis using solar
https://www.google.com/search?q=diy+...t=gws-wiz-serp

Its something that interests me but i know nothing about. Id like to try making some kind of fuel one day but right now is not a good time for me
Your post reminded me of this video so i wanted to share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0hPBCmYmNE

Yes, the pyrolysis of tires is basically the same as that of plastics.

Unless the heat comes from solar, or you have very cheap electricity this is a non starter IMHO..?

Exceptions:
Stationary engines like gensets where most to all the pyrolysis heat is the exhaust heat that's normally wasted.

Its also way easier to load and seal a slug of compressed plastic into the exhaust of a cold engine.
I suppose 2 exhausts with a valve is feasible for 24/7 use.

A mobile 'in car' system where the gas is not condensed but sent to the intake as is, is a possibility.
IIRC In large amounts; the uncondensed gas does not have the octane rating required for spark ignition and would result in knock.

Such may work here in Africa for 'The Majority', but I cant see 1st worlders (Am I still one?) dumpster diving for plastics and then shoving them into a hot compartment in the exhaust before sealing it up. and driving on.
Here plastics line what used to be the streets and people have no qualms about dumpster diving. (or even taking a public dump on the pavement for that matter)

It would actually be a good way to clean things up a bit, but govt is NOT interested in losing the levies and taxes they get/steal on each liter of fuel sold.

I dunno does vacuum distilling beer count? Perhaps a gallon of methanol ethanol mix per 6 gal batch beer, for me it's a discard even if its near 100%. Kills weeds mighty fine.

Also can do the waste veggie oil conversion to biodiesel, but unless it's more than 5 gallons, not worth my time

Yes! Yes it does. :)
Unless the pump fuel is already diluted with alcohol where you are. Then I don't know what adding more would do..?

Most cars and even some motorcycles in my country are flexfuel nowadays, so it would be a no-brainer to homebrew ethanol if I lived in a place suitable to grow some crops with a high carbohydrate content. I also lurked about biogas, but it would be easier for stationary applications.

As far as pyrolisis goes, I guess you know about those gasifiers, fed either with coal or wood, which were fairly popular during WWII.

Yeast likes sugar better (more efficient conversion, higher alcohol content) 2.5 kilo sacks of sugar are easy to come by at the store. It is cheaper to buy it pre distilled and bottled particularly if you can bulk transport and store, cheaper still if you tolerate water and other contaminants.

I looked at it hard about 20 years ago but the economics never made sense. Today it is far easier / cheaper to make fuel for my EV with solar panels and buy commercially made fuel for the ICE vehicles.

Of course, but my intention would be to homebrew some brandy liqueurs or some sort of fruit-based vodka. Trying the same to homebrew alcohol fuel for the sake of experiencing would be quite entertaining to say the least.

Just like flavored stuff, only less contaminants bigger batches and slightly more processing. Stills today can produce 200 proof on second pass

A local doing plastic pyrolysis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rwUkuaSG4Y

The net is full of videos.

Some Russian homemade distillates don't even need a second pass to reach a minimum amount of ethanol by volume to enable it to be used as a motor fuel.

Biogas, methane digester:
https://www.maasenergy.com/how-digesters-work
https://www.biogassa.co.za/index.php...stic-digesters

Basically you want to poop in a bag! :)
A large bag so the organic waste sits about fermenting for around a month.
The other end of the bag needs to drain into std sewage systems IMHO, or its just a **** idea! :)

Other food and garden waste can also be added.
Then you would need a compressor to fill gas bottles if you want to run a car on it.
(or just use it @ home. cookers, water heaters, etc.)

Some filtering of other gasses is reqd, but nothing high tech.

Lots of added processing then or low efficiency per pound of mash. Methanol starts at around 145f, runs maybe 10f, ethanol starts at something like 185f and has a bunch of other things immediately after so best to distill your fraction twice or loose volume from the edges of a center cut or thirdly have many semi toxic contaminates. Bootleggers white lightning has been near 200 proof for centuries but they arent getting all the ethanol possible, and they dont care. Time not being caught is kinda a high priority for them so getting that last wee bit....... they also aren't fussy if the product is mildly toxic. I suspect the same for the russians you reference.

I wouldn't really expect Russians to do something with utmost care, yet if I were brewing for drinking I would take some care that maybe I wouldn't if I were only brewing alcohol fuel.

I do remember back in my school days, a chemistry teacher explaining why it was dangerous to attempt brewing moonshine, which is still fairly usual in Brazilian prisons despite being a disciplinary fault, with some inmates being often reported intoxicated due to some methanol content on moonshine.

But anyway, if I were homebrewing my own booze, I would be careful, and I know about discarding the "head" and the "tail" in the cachaça brewing, as those tend to concentrate most of the impurities - which may include methanol.

If you care, the head is methanol. The heart is around 200 proof ethanol, depending on the set up, tails are water, ethanol, odd mildly toxic volitiles with a vapor point higher than 190f / 86C

Got into distilling attempting to make non alcoholic beer as the alcoholic home made beer negates some of my diabetic medicine. Way overkill on theory, practice is looser.

Off topic but you might be interested in:
https://www.pterostilbene.com/

That was written by me, but 'edited' by a french speaking guy.
IIRC the research on it's anti-diabetic effects was more than interesting.
Blueberry beer anyone!? :)

I read your link. Thanks.

Thanks but isn't my particular issue. I stopped diy insulin,there is no recovery short of replacement cells being grown and injected. Perhaps 20 years on.

I've been well aware of that. I still remember hearing about cachaça brewers in Minas Gerais state using the head and tails of cachaça distillation to further process into ethanol to be used as a motor fuel around 11 years ago. Gone are the days when it was still worth watching Globo, which is still the largest FTA TV network in Brazil...


I know some industrially-brewed zero-alcohol beers had the alcohol removed after fermentation, but I don't know which exact method is used. But anyway, I know there is the so-called root beer which is non-alcoholic and not a beer at all, highly popular in the United States, yet mostly unknown elsewhere. Would it also be unsuitable to address your issue with the diabetic medicine?

Here's where my theory goes bad: methyl and ethanol mixed is an alcohol but I'm not sure what that mix is called but it is still toxic, kills germs, and burns as fuel.

Root beer naturally fermented by the HIRES root beer home kit did contain yeast/alcohol. Not much and a specific specie since it had to be refrigerated or the bottle would explode after a couple weeks from the CO2 before the alcohol went above 2%. Below 40f the yeast goes mostly dormant, key word is mostly. Had bottle bombs set off a whole case which is an incredible mess.

Llemande manufactures a yeast strain that produces very little alcohol < 1%, but does do the esters and phenols flavorings, consuming the sugars. I was also contemplating Vacuum distillation. Heat distillation kills the yeast so no carbonation. Not an issue for manufacturing, they either carbonate with CO2 or nitrogen for the Craft beers.

My med issue is a biology problem. I don't react normally to drugs, so it is a trial and error process to find a working regimen without disabling side effects. I am "controlled", a major step, but that control has side effects: no beer, kinda like some alcohol recovery drugs.

:)

More OT:
With your interest in Buckminster Fuller you'll find the Buckminsterfullerene; C60 dissolved in Olive Oil (and other) very interesting.

It greatly increases intracellular energy production by the mitochondria and protects them. (they contain their own DNA)
That means left over energy for cell repair etc.
I have never experienced anything with such a powerful positive effect.

https://www.longecity.org/forum/forum/415-c60oil/
There's a somewhat hidden way to join the forum for free if you're interested.
Or perhaps The Lounge here is a good place for us to discus this a bit.

Well it cant hurt to try it. It's good stuff for a good many reasons.
IIRC the clinically effective dosage is over the 50mg.
ie: I worked out that I had to take 2 capsules at a time of the locally available very expensive 'Resveratrol" capsules that contained it.

(Clinically effective dosage is VERY NB as a lot of supp makers have just enough of a noteworthy molecule in them to be able to put it on the label, doing a great job of swaying public opinion towards: "It's all crap!")


Tuberculosis Inoculation for diabetes:
This is IIRC from way back and possibly Unicorn but IIRC there was talk of the Tuberculosis Inoculation we all get as babies being able to somehow (don't recall the details) discombobulate your immune system so that it stops attacking the pancreas.

As it also 'cant hurt' it's something I wanted to get (as a preventative) having worked out the dosage for an adult.
But I didn't take it far for some reason I no longer recall.
Probably the quack/s I spoke to wrote me off as a nutter. (Like that's something new.. :D )

Ah! here's the post:
https://www.longecity.org/forum/topi...pe-1-diabetes/

Like I need another rabbit hole. :) thesamba.com shall come first.

My interest in graphene runs more to as an amendment for concrete.

But turning 3D models into Buckytube objects would be cool. Maybe a Vector Equilibrium infill.

Not only root beer is mostly unheard of in my country, to the extent sometimes I was surprised to see mentions to it not being censored on cartoons or translated simply as beer, I only knew about low-volume imports of industrial root beer, and nothing about homebrewing root beer in Brazil.


Unless draught beer, AFAIK most of the regular beer is pasteurized anyway.


Sometimes when my father gets an upset stomach, eating either peanuts or a small Bauducco panettone (even though he's diabetic) make him feel better when some meds fail...

Key point is method of recarbonization. Technically, my homemade is boiled sterile and I put it in the fermenter above 90 C then add hops. Next morning with the temp still about 27C I add the yeast then monitor it for a week or so. I still have active yeast but no method for injection of gas, so I add a couple ounces of sugar to the batch and bottle. Let sit for a week, viola, fizz. If the bottle doesn't explode, it's pretty much sterile (yeast excepted). I have a couple of bottles aging for a year so far. Lots of things for microbiology to eat in a beer bottle and they outgass like yeast. The term for this is a Gorse beer which is sour from the microbiology.

Manufacturers may or may not reheat, but they also add carbonation just before sealing the container so theoretically they could cook their beer all they want and even can it hot... it does taste different.

I never even tried brewing my own booze yet, but most likely I would try either distillates or wine anyway. At least homebrewing distillates, maybe even grappa which is made from grape pulp leftovers from the pressing to extract the juice used in wine brewing, would be easier to also use as a source of motor fuel.

For distilled, a pound of table sugar is much cheaper and much more efficient. U.S.A.= buck and change. That however is above the current fuel price per gallon even before distilling. Everyone making "moonshine" wants the flavoring provided by the base grain or fruit since the distill process is a bit leaky for maximum extraction as you approach 100C corrected for altitude. Heads and hearts are 200 proof, tails arent.

My best cherry fruit wine came from a bottom of French champagne used as a starter.

That's what I had in mind.


Sounds great.

A Methanol Solar Cell anyone? :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWC7mvU-oOg

This was 10 months ago and no DIY Methanol Solar Cell has been forthcoming from him yet.
An interesting development to keep an eye on nonetheless.

Synergy of nanocrystalline carbon nitride with Cu single atom catalyst leads to selective photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol

Making Methanol From Dry Distillation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGKlpicqldE

In general, I think that structured metamaterials are the solution to metered and monetized energy. A penny is only 2.5% Copper, but if they retire all of them that's a lot.

In another thread, JSH said:
So I will pin my hopes on the Thunderstorm Generator. :)

The Macleay Country Store hasn't had penny candy in quite some time, and that's probably the canary in the coal mine for that denomination. I spent hundreds of pennies at Kermit's store over the years.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries...ry?id=12811093

It will be interesting to see what happens with the $0.99 pricing phenomenon.

I was always fascinated with the idea of making my own fuel, preferably via portable solar on an EV. But I give up.

We're still trying to figure out how to pay petrol stations a tenth of a penny.

:) Yes a solar panel charging a battery is a science fiction fantasy! :D

But do NB that the it looks like E-fuels is in fact the better Eco option:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...h-40672-6.html

It's early days for this new tech, but the numbers are VERY impressive!
"...a remarkable 99% selectivity towards methanol production..." vs methane.
So it's worth keeping an eye on this line of research for @home fuel manufacture :)

I NB that methane is better (cleaner, faster burning) when you can use it immediately.
And from the paper it looks like that catalyst is the easier one of the 2 to make.
Also there's no shortage of CO2 from the exhaust when an engine is running.

The Water-gas Shift Reaction: CO + H2O ⇌ CO2 + H2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water%...shift_reaction
is as easy as a condenser (radiator) and shallow bubbler in the exhaust, if not terribly efficient..?


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm0Yz75d73M&t=292s

That may add weight but would double as a muffler, offsetting some of it, leaving rust/erosion as the last challenge.

Last thought: If you can use the heat @Home say; the efficiency of an engine goes up to 90%.
What's gas cost you vs electricity? Pick one; it's free here... :)

Buy more or less using a metered pump with variable pricing like currently used? You have been buying fuel at XX 9/10 dollars per volume for years, HOWEVER, I Havent paid cash without pre authorization in the last 20 years. Pump shuts off by itself typically on an even dollar number. Haven't tried to buy just a quarters worth or just exactly 1gallon, all my fuel cans are at least 2 1/2. Either way you'd be looking at about a partial gram of fuel. I find more fuel in the nozzle after someone overfills their tank

Credit card/ fuel card wouldn't care using same scenario,.


Remember way back in the '70s in ST Louis they rounded everything to the nickle during a penny crisis. Sometimes you made out, but in the long run it averaged out the same and gas was pocket change compared to today. Iirc it was something like $50 to cross country LA to Chanute afb Illinois.

E-fuels that take those nasty things OUT of the air and put them back into a gas can..?? :)


The Thunderstorm Generator = Pyrolysis + a bit of Steam Reformation + a bit of Water-Gas Shift.
+ a bit of Voodoo? Mumbo Jumbo? on top to disguise that fact..?

There may be some as yet not understood science in it and/or the Geet Reactor:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einste...de_Haas_effect (Which wont affect fuel in a magnetic field will it..? :) )
https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...42727X80900235
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet...amic_generator
etc.
But get your Right Hand Rule etc out and start imagining the what electromagnetic fields etc and Voodoo? Mumbo Jumbo?? is where I have to leave it, for now...

(Also NB that this kind of talk tends to alienate the 'yes but can I buy the stuff at Walmart?' crowd to the point the thread dies! :) )

Power Receiver for Extracting Power from Electric Field Energy in the Earth https://patents.google.com/patent/US20150102675A1/en

From a quick scan there is NO evidence that the applicant actually tested any of his 'patent'.
So this is just here for reference (circuit Diagram) atm.

I NB that Thermoacoustic devices are light. Hollow tubes mostly that might be part of a car or bike chassis. (Weight Saving. Increased power to weight ratio of the whole system..?)
With them there is much resonance matching required.

I also NB Quarter Wave (and Helmholtz?) Resonators that kill the frequencies of highest amplitude in engine exhaust remain 'cold' at their closed ends as there is no flow in them.
That means a normal speaker might be used in them to harvest noise energy via a similar resonant circuit..? (and a MPPT..?)
The trick will be to find (or tune) a speaker that happens to also resonate at the desired frequency.

An efficient low-frequency acoustic energy harvester [38%]