biodiesel stove

[georges]

find the biodiesel stove prototype demonstration, next we will be working on the biodiesel barbecue

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

[Piwoslaw]

When my wife and I spent our honeymoon in the Sierra Nevada mountains (Spain, not California), we had a multifuel hiking stove, the MSR WhisperLite Int'l, and 1.5 liters of the only fuel we could get (not without difficulty) out in the boonies, gasoline. The stove worked fine, but at the end of the trip we had 750ml of gas left. We couldn't take it on the plane, so we had to get rid of it, but did not want to just pour it down the drain or, even worse, onto the soil. We were able to find someone willing to pour 0.5l into their car, but that still left us with 250ml of gasoline. It finally ended up in the hotel room drain the night before our flight home, but that wasn't an easy decision

Upon returning we decided to try the rapeseed biodiesel they sell at certain gas stations. Not only is it slightly cheaper than regular diesel or gasoline, it's supposed to be biodegradable. So we got some for our new year trip (3 nights in a tent in half a meter of snow @ -20 deg.C) and it turned out that it didn't work The biodiesel didn't freeze up at -20, but the stove wouldn't catch. Only preheating with lots of soot, but no blue flame. Back home, when it got warmer, I tried again outside (this time the fuel was at room temp.) and still no luck. Twice it did get going, but only for less than a minute.

Today I found info on this subject (Biodiesel in a camp stove - BioDieselNow - Renewable biodiesel fuel), and now I see that we should have bought the heavier and more expensive MSR Dragonfly. Oh, well. Thankfully Svietlana is a diesel, so she'll get 1.5l of bio when spring gets around.

[georges]

Why in the world would you go camping in the mountain at -20 below in 1 ft of snow, you should of come to Florida were it is always sunny with beaches with white sand.
Anyway, I have not tried the stove to such cold, the coldest it was last week in Florida was 40 degrees and the stove worked properly. I will assume that this stove will not work well if the temperature drops below 20 degrees because it will start to gel but being under pressure of at least 25 lbs, I think it will stay fluid at 20 degrees.
Our intention is to mass fabricate those stove for Haiti where deforestation is at 98% and stop the use of charcoal.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by georges

Why in the world would you go camping in the mountain at -20 below in 1 ft of snow

Long story...

Originally Posted by georges

I will assume that this stove will not work well if the temperature drops below 20 degrees because it will start to gel but being under pressure of at least 25 lbs, I think it will stay fluid at 20 degrees.

During the winter months here biodiesel, and all other fuels for cars, have extra additives to keep them liquid in double digit negative temperatures. But as I mentioned earlier, even at room temperature I couldn't get the stove to work properly. It is the model's fault, maybe one day I'll fool around with modding it, so that thicker fuels with higher flash points will work better. Or I'll just stick to gasoline.

[instarx]

Is this an advertisement posing as a poll? Even if not (unlikely), why is it in the ecomodder section?

[Ryland]

why not just use alcohol?
bio-diesel should work in any kerosene burning stove and there are alot of those out there,

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by instarx

Is this an advertisement posing as a poll? Even if not (unlikely), why is it in the ecomodder section?

Sadly, this guy's been banned.

His previous posts were relevant, but very spammy.

This latest one is over the line. Cook stoves on EcoModder? Nuh uh!

[jamesqf]

I don't know. I could be interested in a backpacking/camping stove that would run on vegetable oil - use the same oil to cook with in both senses of the word. Even more convenient than when I used to go camping in the Cherokee (Piper, not Jeep). Gas for the stove came from the fuel tester that you use to check for water condensation in the tanks.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by instarx

Is this an advertisement posing as a poll? Even if not (unlikely), why is it in the ecomodder section?

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Sadly, this guy's been banned.

His previous posts were relevant, but very spammy.

This latest one is over the line. Cook stoves on EcoModder? Nuh uh!

Spamming is bad. But discussing uses of biodiesel is good, though not in the ecomodder section. Thanx for moving it

Originally Posted by Ryland

why not just use alcohol?
bio-diesel should work in any kerosene burning stove and there are alot of those out there,

My stove is supposed to use kerosene and diesel, but biodiesel doesn't seem to work.
For an alcohol stove, you can use a soda can instead of a fancy $100 gizmo weighting over a pound. Plus, alcohol isn't that cheap, at least where I live. 1 liter of diesel or gasoline here costs around US$1, biodiesel a few cents less, while a liter of alcohol goes for somewhere around US$30.

[instarx]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

My stove is supposed to use kerosene and diesel, but biodiesel doesn't seem to work.

I'm not surprised. Biodiesel (B100) has such a low vapor pressure it isn't even classified as a flammable liquid. I think it would be very difficult to get biodiesel to burn in a camp stove.

Ok, I watched the video - he isn't using biodiesel - he is using cooking oil. The stove is designed to be used in third-world countries to replace highly polluting charcoal burners. This is a good idea, but he shouldn't be spamming for funding on ecomodder I think, no matter how worthy an idea it may be.

For an alcohol stove, you can use a soda can instead of a fancy $100 gizmo weighting over a pound. Plus, alcohol isn't that cheap, at least where I live. 1 liter of diesel or gasoline here costs around US$1, biodiesel a few cents less, while a liter of alcohol goes for somewhere around US$30.

I made one of those aluminum-can camping stoves last year to use for bicycle camping and it works great. Methanol here in the US is only about $6/liter. For fuel I use gas-line dryer that removes moisture from fuel tanks - it's pure methanol and comes in 12 oz bottles for $3 and is available in any hardware store, and lasts me about 3-4 days of camping. Maybe specialized camping fuel is $30/liter here, but I don't use it since its just dyed methanol.