Author Topic: Producing Ethanol At Home (Read 10044 times)

GF · « **on:** August 30, 2005, 11:41:15 am »

I was wondering if anyone is making there own ethanol for personal use?

Dan_Shade · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2005, 11:56:10 am »

isn't that illegal

leweee · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2005, 12:48:28 pm »

Did I hear someone saySTIHL

GF · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2005, 01:38:22 pm »

There is a form you have to fill out for the ATF and there is a section in the form that states it will be used as fuel and that you will not produce more than 10,000 gallons annually.

Fla._Deadheader · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2005, 01:41:01 pm »

That permit is pretty easy to get. You have to have a locked tank, record all the amounts of "run" ya make, and some Fed will visit ya on a regular basis and pour some gasoline into the tank.

I wish we had carried our permit with us, from Arkansas. I made a 500 gallon still from a propane tank.

DouginUtah · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2005, 01:44:19 pm »

What are you planning to make it from? And how?

-Doug

GF · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2005, 02:32:17 pm »

I would to try making is using sawdust (Cellulose). Here is an article on it.

http://www.eere.energy.gov/biomass/pdfs/bioethanol_marketplace.pdf

ronwood · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2005, 03:14:42 pm »

GF,

I been looking at the following website. With the cost of gas it might be worth looking into.

http://www.alcohol4fuel.com/index.html

This website has plans for a still. Was thinking about ordering the plans. Does anyone else know of other plans that might work.

Ron

GF · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2005, 03:37:35 pm »

Ronwood,
I seen the same site also, I ordered the plans to see what they are like. Will let you know the quality of the plans when they come in. With the price of fuel something is going to have to change.

Bro. Noble · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:16:48 pm »

I got a farm supply catalogue the other day that had several stills advertised from a gallon or so up to several hundred gallons. I think it was a 'Farmteck' catalogue.

Tom · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:22:31 pm »

I'd sure like to hear some of you experience fellows talk about the difference in Ethynol and Methynol. I know the chemical difference and that Methynol is a deadly poison, but could you produce Methynol thinking that you had a jug of ethynol? Stuff like that, you know. $:-\$

Bro. Noble · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:30:38 pm »

Tom,

If you aim to sip on it, filter it through charcoal to get the fusil oil out (also called bardle grease) that's what causes the condition called 'pop skull' I don't know about methonol or ethonol, I suppose you could use a car radiator for a condensor (worm), but you don't want to for the sipping kind. Well maybe you could use these new plastic radiators?

If I was going to go to a different fuel, I would get ahold of my neighbor www.greasel.com. I can tell whenever he or any of his family drive by the milkbarn-----smells like McDonalds

GF · « **Reply #12 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:34:21 pm »

"If you aim to sip on it, filter it through charcoal to get the fusil oil out "

Bro Noble is this from any type of past experience?

With the price of gas if it dont burn one may have to start drinking it to dull the pain at the pump.

Bro. Noble · « **Reply #13 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:47:34 pm »

GF,

I think I read that in a book onetime

I probably shouln't have made light of distilling.

Years ago, everyone in this area was involved in the trade one way or another. The oldtimers laugh that the only one that made any money at it was C.....W..... and that was because he didn't drink it.

I've known several that were directly involved and heard a lot of their stories. Usually we hear the comical stories and it is romanticized, but most of the whole stories are sad to tragic. We have a similar situation in the area now although fortunately in involves a very small percent of the population and most of them are outsiders------meth production. Lots of lives will be permanently damaged from it.

GF · « **Reply #14 on:** August 30, 2005, 04:49:02 pm »

Tom,
My understanding is that methanol is more corrosive to metal than ethanol is. Methanol will eat away at aluminum which a majority of the later vehicles use as the blocks and heads. Here was an interesting comment that involved the Forestry Forum Well Know Topic of Grits:

"If there's ethanol in the gas you buy at your local filling station, there's a slight chance that it was filtered through corn grits, using a technique developed at Purdue University. When the corn grits get saturated with water you just make more ethanol out of them! "

Fla._Deadheader · « **Reply #15 on:** August 30, 2005, 05:11:37 pm »

For all practical purposes, METHANOL is WOOD Alcohol derived.

ETHANOL is GRAIN Alcohol derived.

I ain't no chemist, but RACE cars use Methanol. If it's all that corrosive, why do they use it in $50,000.00 race engines

Lots of the info out there, is conjured up, and NOT scientifically accurate. The Oil companies DO NOT want alternative fuels developed, until the Govt. issues THEM the rights and patented process to dominate the market.

I could be wrong, though.

OneWithWood · « **Reply #16 on:** August 30, 2005, 05:23:24 pm »

About this time every year I start thinking of ways to supplement the wood heat for the boiler. Methanol from sawdust sounds promising. What would it take to fire a boiler with it? Maybe WVO would be a better alternative??

Ron Wenrich · « **Reply #17 on:** August 30, 2005, 06:05:28 pm »

I looked into ethanol back in the '70s. The government doesn't like it because it would be too hard to collect road taxes off of a lot of people.

The problem with wood is the breaking down of the cellulose into sugars. It is a lot tougher than going to your local bakery and getting all the sugar that they discard. There are easier methods.

karl · « **Reply #18 on:** August 30, 2005, 06:08:25 pm »

Knew a guy who made alcohol from ground news print back in the '70's. had a huge still on a trailer that he demoed.
Too bad he crossed the fine line from excentric to raving lunatic and all his stuff (and wisdom)was scrapped.
I had been thinking along the lines of methane production rather than ethanol. After forking over a c note for gas for the one ton the other day and it wasn't even FULL, I have become more serious.

Don_Papenburg · « **Reply #19 on:** August 30, 2005, 09:23:48 pm »

Karl, You need some pig or cows, BIG Poopers , to make that methane digester profitable . Then you could sell or butcher the ones that don't produce mounds O poop a day .

I was thinking of investing in a corn burning water furnace for my shop. Since I have a lack of timber and an abundance of cheap corn .

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Author Topic: Producing Ethanol At Home (Read 10044 times)