BioDieselNow - Renewable biodiesel fuel

Well, the republic of Massachusetts has imposed their will on the people of this wonderful state yet again. Although, this time I think it may have a positive impact for bd producers. I am quoting the Boston Public Heatlh Departments press release,

"The board of the Boston Public Health Commission today approved a regulation
that restricts all food service establishments from serving food or beverage containing artificial trans fat
or partially hydrogenated oil that raises the risk of heart disease.The ban will take effect in two phases,
beginning September 13, 2008."

I am very new to this site and Biodiesel in general, but I think this will have a huge impact on the quality of wvo that we obtain. By using oil with no artifical trans fats, wont that produce a thinner wvo, allowing the use of lesser methanol and lye?  My question is if the oil is thinner from the get go, will that produce a biodiesel with not enough lubricity, or do you just change the amounts of lye based on a better titration test? Again, I am very new to this so if your reading this wondering what the heck it is i'm talking about just tell me i'm a moron . Here is a link to a few articles on the subject.

 

 http://boston.about.com/od/governmentcityservices/a/BosTransFatBan.htm

 

http://www.bphc.org/news/press_release_content.asp?id=416

Another question is will this improve performance in cold weather due to the thinner wvo. I would think this would lead to a thinner finished bd?

I thought this might make a big difference in how bd is made, based on the quality of the wvo. Since I have had no replies, i assume that it really does not matter. My main concern is that i'm about to set up a system to produce over 6,000 gallons a year and wanted to know what impact, if any this will have on my wvo. If anyone has any thoughts, positve or negative, it would be a huge help with the abount of money i'm planning on spending. Thanks in advance.

I'm going to change the title of the post and move it and see if we can get some more responses. 

Sammy8:

Well, the republic of Massachusetts has imposed their will on the people of this wonderful state yet again.

Hopefully you're not arguing for putting trans-fats in our food,  because I don't seem to recall anyone asking for them in the first place.  They don't provide any flavor enhancements, only an extension of shelf life, and if we had any idea how bad they were for us when they began to be used, I'm pretty sure that they would have been banned a long time ago.

Todd 

 

brewer13104:

Sammy8:

Well, the republic of Massachusetts has imposed their will on the people of this wonderful state yet again.

Hopefully you're not arguing for putting trans-fats in our food,  because I don't seem to recall anyone asking for them in the first place.  They don't provide any flavor enhancements, only an extension of shelf life, and if we had any idea how bad they were for us when they began to be used, I'm pretty sure that they would have been banned a long time ago.

Todd 

 

Yes Im curious if you would allow manufacturing to spew Mercury into the rivers? or how about CO2? What Im saying is that the 'bad for you' and 'public's right to it' line often moves. My view is that the line is much too far on the limiting side for things like Transfats and drug use and much to lax on the mega pollution like PCB's, CO2, O3, NOx, SOx... but that is because our gov is bought and paid for by industry.

Should have no effect at all too us!Trans fats are mostly associated with ,"Liquid Shortening" not vegtable oils. Lard and Crisco are high in trans fats, great for deep frying foods , but are artery cloggers. The only places that I have come across that still use lard, the worst for trans fatty acids. Some of the best tasting chinese places. I do not eat there anymore. Regards, Joe.D

Non-trans fat oils are mostly just liquid oils.  They will make fuel just the same, but the fuel will have slightly lower gel points.  This does not mean you use less methanol or lye -- that has nothing to do with the temperature properties of the fuel.  One of my sources has changed over from PHO to liquid canola and it makes very nice biodiesel.  If your source fries a lot of fatty meats, you will make some high temperature biodiesel that may fall out when it gets cold, so you might want to settle that out before you brew.  That's what I do for winter fuel, but now that it's warm I use it all.

froggy:

brewer13104:

Sammy8:

Well, the republic of Massachusetts has imposed their will on the people of this wonderful state yet again.

Hopefully you're not arguing for putting trans-fats in our food,  because I don't seem to recall anyone asking for them in the first place.  They don't provide any flavor enhancements, only an extension of shelf life, and if we had any idea how bad they were for us when they began to be used, I'm pretty sure that they would have been banned a long time ago.

Todd 

 

Yes Im curious if you would allow manufacturing to spew Mercury into the rivers? or how about CO2? What Im saying is that the 'bad for you' and 'public's right to it' line often moves. My view is that the line is much too far on the limiting side for things like Transfats and drug use and much to lax on the mega pollution like PCB's, CO2, O3, NOx, SOx... but that is because our gov is bought and paid for by industry.

 

Well,  I can see there is no sense of humor here. Of course I was not advocating the use of trans fat in foods. There heath risks have been proven for years. What I was simply saying is the state of Massachusetts sometimes plays big brother too much. It is also full of the most corrupt politicians on the planet who get kickbacks for just about anything that crosses their desks. If you have any questions about it please refer to the big dig! If your not from this state then you would not understand. My question was would this affect the quality, good or bad, of the wvo collected in the state? From your replies, I guess it will not.

Sammy,

I share your poltical views on government using people. I live in western NY. I think we are just as bad if not worse than MA.

As for the trans fat. That is caused by hydrogenation of the veg oil. More hydrogenated = thicker like margarine etc. It also translates to the gel point of biodiesel made from it. The non-hydrogenated (zero trans fat) WVO is a lot easier to work with before conversion too.

We save the hydrogenated stuff for summer and now get enough non-hydrogenated oil to make it thru the winter.

Bob