Motors Making ethanol at home

I would like to start producing my own ethanol fuel out of food waste and use it to run my bikes - how difficult would this be?

I have looked on the internet but most of the home-distillation pages I've seen refer to making it using corn, etc that you've bought fresh.

I know it won't be an easy project, but to be honest I'm sick of paying £1.10 a litre for petrol.

I know the basic procedure - distill pure alcohol, and mix it with petrol.

Has anyone got any ideas on how to make this work? What I would need, etc?

How legal is it? I know you're allowed to make your own biodiesel, is it the same for ethanol?

What modifications would the vehicle need? I know it will probably want a larger idle jet, anything else?

Cheers!

 

I think people make biodiesel because its easier, diesels (old ones any way) will burn bout any thing. The mixture for bio-ethanol has to be quite low due to ethanol being quite bad for the rubber parts of your fuel system. Its quite legal (i think), you'd need to check the specifications for the fuel to make sure your not going to do any damage. Things to watch are water in the ethanol and mixture with petrol, most cars can cope with e10 without (much) modification, a lot of the fuel you buy from tesco is e5 and you'll never notice (its an oxiginate instead of mtbe). Remember to keep track of how much you use, there is still a fair bit of fuel duty liable on it!

 

that sounds a good idea mate. no idea how to do it, but good idea. you're not planning to blow something up are you?

*looks around for anti-terrorist spies

 

Can straight methylated spirits be mixed with petrol? it's just cheap ethanol + methanol to kill you??

 

Biodiesel is relatively safe and stable... ethanol might be controlled somehow. I remember reading that you're not allowed to store more than 20 gallons or so of petrol before you have to put it in some kind of proper fortified tank, but don't quote me on that. In short, I'd bet you can't easily start up an ethanol factory in your garage without having to let the authorities know (and probably have it tested and checked = £££)

 

Don't all home-brew fuels involve cutting a cheque to Gordon anyway, due to the taxes he misses out on?

Now Nitromethanol on the other hand... smells lovely, for a start. Then you go blind.

 

^yes, Gordon will ask for some money. any fuel used on a road is liable for tax

 

only if he catches you.

good luck with blowing your house up.

 

I'd phone the home office regarding the legality of it, just to be sure .

However as long as you keep a record, I think you're allowed to use up to 2500L of 'non-duty' fuel, ie cooking oil etc..

 

You're allowed up to 2500l of vege oil / similar before having to pay duty on it now. When it gets warmer a bit more permanently I want to mix some with the diesel in the Defender - it's fairly old so should burn it ok :s


edit - oooo beaten to it!

 

Burning it wont be a problem, but pumping it might, check which pump you have, if its Bosch you should be fine, if its Lucas then probably not, at least thats the general concensus in the vauxhall community.

 

I believe that ethanol require more energy to produce then use.
If you try to save the environment, it the worst thing you can do.

 

At the amounts he'd be making from yard and food waste, it's just a fart in the wind. Especially with an inefficient home still. It's still a cool experiment. The worst part will be figuring out what to so with the left over...organics.

 

It'll be messy, smelly, inefficient and illegal.

 

illegal? No
You can make whatever you want.

 

I'm not doing it to save the environment, I'm doing it to save money (and to say '**** you' to the taxman). Even 10% alcohol in the tank will save me a bit of cash, though if I can produce enough I'm hoping for 85-90%. A friend of mine made 98% proof alcohol from two month's fermentation - if I could seperate the impurities out, I bet a bike (especially an old Japanese single) would run on it.

The problem really would be the quantity. But still, I bet that making 50 liters of alcohol at home from waste organic products would be more environmentally friendly than refining it from crude oil.

Plus if I get it pure enough I could drink it. Imagine drinking straight from the tank when camping

 

The ethanol based fuels you buy in the forecourt are typically e5, thats 95% petrol and 5% pure alcohol. So not only will you need to ferment it you'll need to distil it pretty bloody far to get a decent fuel, too much water and it'll not burn properly in the cylinders.

And don't get caught not paying duty that would be an expensive mistake.

 

It may be cheap compared to whisky but it's still expensive compared to petrol.

UK Law AFAIK

It's legal in New Zealand,

 

Be wary of any rubber o-rings and such, ethanol will destroy them.

 

You can't make moonshine, you can't make TNT, you can't make firearms. Don't be an idiot.

Distilling alcohol is illegal, as is not paying tax on fuel.