code2driver
Member
If there is a thread on this, please direct me.
Has anyone come up with a way of dealing with small-scale biodiesel production in homes? I define small-scale as less than 100 gal. batches [typical reaction vessel being a modified water heater, typically in garages]. This jurisdiction is a fairly large [Pop. 180,000] midwestern city, so in older residential districts, houses within 20' of each other and garages right up to property lines.
Issues:
1. Methanol storage. Methanol is a Class IB flammable liquid, so 120 gal. MAQ [240 with approved storage]; 30 gal. in open use. Permit quantity of Class IB liquid is 5 gal.
2. Modified water heater and electric installation not by electrician (just search "biodiesel" on YouTube for nightmarish installations) [Mechanical and Electric Codes].
3. Methanol fumes are toxic and most garages do not have the required mechanical ventilation.
4. Sodium methoxide is a toxic material, with LD50 of 2037 mg/Kg.
Actually, those are only some of the issues, but I think the thorniest ones.
I know that out west they have put some guidelines together on a state level, but I infer that most of the production is taking place in more-or-less rural areas and not in relatively densely populated cities.
Has anyone come up with a way of dealing with small-scale biodiesel production in homes? I define small-scale as less than 100 gal. batches [typical reaction vessel being a modified water heater, typically in garages]. This jurisdiction is a fairly large [Pop. 180,000] midwestern city, so in older residential districts, houses within 20' of each other and garages right up to property lines.
Issues:
1. Methanol storage. Methanol is a Class IB flammable liquid, so 120 gal. MAQ [240 with approved storage]; 30 gal. in open use. Permit quantity of Class IB liquid is 5 gal.
2. Modified water heater and electric installation not by electrician (just search "biodiesel" on YouTube for nightmarish installations) [Mechanical and Electric Codes].
3. Methanol fumes are toxic and most garages do not have the required mechanical ventilation.
4. Sodium methoxide is a toxic material, with LD50 of 2037 mg/Kg.
Actually, those are only some of the issues, but I think the thorniest ones.
I know that out west they have put some guidelines together on a state level, but I infer that most of the production is taking place in more-or-less rural areas and not in relatively densely populated cities.