Make Your Own Ethanol?

[pah]

Hi all,

So what if Australia does not go down Brazil's ethanol path? Maybe we can make our own brew? This crowd is marketing ethanol Home Brew kits:

http://www.ethanolstill.com/building-Your-own-alcohol-Still.html

It seems like a lot of work and just fine if you don't have a day job . . . and can be trusted around an alcohol still.

Maybe when we're all driving electric cars and have the last of the V8's reserved for a once a month weekend blast, an ethanol still might be the go?





PAH

[mmciau]

Johnny's "Untouchables" Customs and excise boys will be around to see you!!!!!

Mike

[pah]

Do they enjoy a drink?


:party:





PAH

[clixanup]

Johnny's "Untouchables" Customs and excise boys will be around to see you!!!!!
How are they going to find out??

[Stevotski]

ummm 'hic' yeah ummmm officer - it is a still 'hic' to make fuel 'hic' for the car....

Why do you have the ingredients to make Tequila, Canadian Club and Jim Beam?

ummm... the 'hic' GENIII and IV has a rich cultural heritage

[Firebug]

I still all the time at home. Isn't a reflux still but similar principle. I worked it out to be around $3.80/L @ 60 - 70% straight off the still or 2.10/L diluted to 40% for drinking. Too expensive to put into the car, so I drink the sh!t, go figure... :booze:

I'm upgrading to a reflux still. Someone I know builds them for $350. Electric, all stainless 11 gallon capacity. With enough care you can produce ethanol @ around 90 odd %. Max you can have is 96.4, any higher off the still and it will just absorb water content from the air and come back to the 96.4% Around the first 400mls between 68 and 72 degrees will be methanol (tastes like crap, stick it your lawn mower). :burnout:

You would have to seriously bring your initial ingredient costs down (as stated it the link), to beat current fuel prices. Maybe substitute the packaged yeast for potatoes or something with a high yeast content. Also sugar would need to be sourced from something or somewhere cheap. Would take some time to work out a ratio that works. Also very messy. But not impossible.

The illegality is something to consider. Time consuming work too, around 4 hours for 20L from a reflux so I'm told. 8 days for a brew to ferment with packaged ingredients. So a number of brews need to be working in a cycle to keep up to your usage. That's if you dont drink any :lol:

Food (or drink) for thought...

[SV99]

Whats the law in NSW is it any still over 15l is classed as a pressure vessel.


Butanol Sounds better but its the good stuff that never gets a mention.

http://www.butanol.com/


James

[Firebug]

I was told the 5L still was legal, and the 25L still wasn't.

I didn't but the 5L still...

[Speedy Gonzales]

It was on ACA, some bloke brewing his own biodiesel using used oil from a local fish and chip shop. Car was a Peugeot 306 I think.

Something like $8-10 to drive from Syd to Melb on one tank :cool:

[JBonDSS]

bio- diesel is a lot simpler, there are a couple country servos that have have it, there are quite a number of people that make it, there is chap that test his bio-diesel at tractor pull :P reckons he can pull the same weight running it.

[Jphdg]

Yep Biodiesel is good stuff and nets the same performance and econ as petrodiesel, pitty it does not work in our LS1's :bawl:

[SV99]

The only problem i can see that someone will start a smear campaign against it.


Some idiot will do something wrong then the plebs from ACA will be on to it.

I recon an two-stroke Detroit would be perfect to run on canola oil straight because of the way the fuel runs through the head. Effectively using the fuel as coolant as well but heating the oil up to a lower viscosity.

[vt350phantom]

if you fancy yourself as a chemist, rather than preparing your own ethanol you can have a go at making meth or MDMA, then even if petrol hits $5 a litre, you won't give a f@*k coz you will be flushed with $$$$$ from your new profession!!! However, there is the downside of getting busted by the cops and spending some time in long bay. A scary thought indeed!! :doh:

[powerman_dsr]

this thread is very interesting, our gas in the US is currently the equvilent of $4.26 for regular and about $4.79 for Premium, i hope we switch to an alternant fuel, hey guys its been a few years since ive been home to newcastle whats the price of gas in the Sydney area.

[Firebug]

Yesterday in Newcastle 1.29.9c/L, Today around 1.36.9c/L for regular.

Idiot me usually fuels up on a weekend with 98. Last refuel was 1.52.9c/L :cussing:

[Lofty]

I read an article in the paper a few years ago about newcastle council running all there plant machinery on biodiesel that they where making.

Just goes to prove Newcastle breeds smarter people. :driving:

[Firebug]

:werd: Wot he said^^^

[MIC33R]

I've also seen a few council buses around here with "flower power" written on the side that run BD.

The ABC ran something about it actually -

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s996503.htm

[powerman_dsr]

Yesterday in Newcastle 1.29.9c/L, Today around 1.36.9c/L for regular.

Idiot me usually fuels up on a weekend with 98. Last refuel was 1.52.9c/L :cussing:
thats not to bad, it could be worse

[pah]

Brewing enough ethanol for the weekend blast on a GSX-R 1100 sounds feasible, but I doubt many of us could brew enough to fuel a V8 for weekday use. That's why it would be nice to see more use of commercially produced ethanol.


Remember how we all supported the V8's till 98 campaign?

That shows that we've got some clout . . . because Holden kept the V8 and Ford joined the band-wagon!!

That just means that we're wasting our clout!! We could be lobbying people like the PM, asking him to increase government support for ethanol and other renewable fuels. Here's his email address:

http://www.pm.gov.au/email.cfm

If you like the sound of an electric motor at redline, sit back and do nothing.





PAH

[sandmanls1]

guy in the drive article reckons 30 mins for 40 litres of bio diesel......

if you get enough peopel together start your own home brew co-op and then get a 2nd hand diesel ie Pug 307 etc for family duties..

[Firebug]

guy in the drive article reckons 30 mins for 40 litres of bio diesel......

if you get enough peopel together start your own home brew co-op and then get a 2nd hand diesel ie Pug 307 etc for family duties..

Good idea, get together and make enough to sell cheap. Profits should be more than enough to cover bowser rises for our V8,s :diddy:

My still's ticking over at the moment. another couple of minutes and the methanol will be separated. It's all party in a bucket from there... :lol: :merry: