Still materials for alcohol fuel

Alcohol is an inexpensive, clean and renewable fuel source.

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rbread80
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Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by rbread80 »

Ok, for ingestion, I get that a still should be made of copper or ss, but if you are using it for using it for fuel purposes could you use a standard steel or a less expensive material?
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DAD300
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by DAD300 »

Yes, you could. I've seen a local making sugar beet fuel in a steel drum. The drum didn't last long and eventually he went to a stainless boiler. There are even examples of people using plastic buckets with internal elements.

You'll see such examples on the fuel forums or Mother Earth News site.

Just remember, the cost of making fuel is not currently economically feasible, unless you get your fermentation and heat source for free.
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rbread80
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by rbread80 »

I am mainly brain storming right now. I've been looking at homesteading and looking into growing my own sugar/starch source & heat with wood/solar for fuel for a tractor/generator and maybe my truck. I was looking for cost effective solutions, this may not be one, just doing some research at this time. Thanks!
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by Prairiepiss »

We can save you the trouble. It's not feasible. It is however a nice hobby to have as a homesteader. Making drink that is. Start out with wine and beer. And maybe later distill.

You would be better off looking at biodiesel. For fuel. And I'm not to sold on that either.
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MadMasher
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by MadMasher »

rbread80 wrote:I am mainly brain storming right now. I've been looking at homesteading and looking into growing my own sugar/starch source & heat with wood/solar for fuel for a tractor/generator and maybe my truck. I was looking for cost effective solutions, this may not be one, just doing some research at this time. Thanks!
Look into wood gasifiers. Simple and cost effective, you can easily run a truck off of wood with one.
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rbread80
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by rbread80 »

Thanks for the tips! I have brewed beer a few times, and have thought about distilling, although I am more of a beer man. I'll check out the gasifiers. Since there isn't much cost in methane (aside from start up) would that be feasible for home use, maybe running a stove? I don't know that I'm looking at large amounts of animal waste, maybe a 4-6 goats, chickens, a pig and a dog. I could maybe route human waste too along with plant waste. Plus I would have collected fertilizer for crops. I know this doesn't have anything to do with alcohol distilling, but ya'll seem to have a better grasp on this stuff than I do at this point.
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by S-Cackalacky »

The one piece of illusive information you don't often see about that 10% ethanol at the gas pump is that it increases the price of what you're putting in your tank. The cost of the ethanol is lowered somewhat by taxpayer subsidies to the ethanol fuel industry. It actually cost more to produce a gallon of ethanol than the fuel it replaces. Not to mention the grain and other material being taken out of the consumable food chain. Because of supply and demand it could probably also be demonstrated that any products derived from those materials have an increased cost.

If you spend the time to track down inexpensive sources of fermentable material, process it, ferment it, and distill it to a high percent, you will be working the equivalent of a couple of full time jobs - just to fuel your truck. Maybe a good talent to have in an armagedon type situation, but not very practical in the real world.

Just sayin',
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MadMasher
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

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I'm not sure of your goal or location and I don't know much about methane production but I would look into renewable energy sources, water, wind and solar. I'm currently trying to find if my house gets enough wind to be worth it, solar is too expensive at this point. A stream where you could build a dam with a hydroelectricturbine is quite simple to build, relatively inexpensive and quite reliable if you design it right(flood protection). This would give you more than enough energy for lights, water heater, cooking apparatus. Plus you could supplement heat and cooking with a wood stove when its cold. If you had enough batteries and big enough motor you could probably even run AC. I know this post is off subject but this interests me and just thought it could help to mention this. I will make a new topic under Off Topic Discussion to discus further.http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =7&t=45544
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rbread80
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by rbread80 »

MadMasher wrote:I'm not sure of your goal or location and I don't know much about methane production but I would look into renewable energy sources, water, wind and solar. I'm currently trying to find if my house gets enough wind to be worth it, solar is too expensive at this point. A stream where you could build a dam with a hydroelectricturbine is quite simple to build, relatively inexpensive and quite reliable if you design it right(flood protection). This would give you more than enough energy for lights, water heater, cooking apparatus. Plus you could supplement heat and cooking with a wood stove when its cold. If you had enough batteries and big enough motor you could probably even run AC. I know this post is off subject but this interests me and just thought it could help to mention this. I will make a new topic under Off Topic Discussion to discus further.http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =7&t=45544
I am currently in central Texas, but land is too expensive in this area. I think I will probably stay in Texas but probably look a little more NE of here, property seems to be cheaper. I've looked into solar and wind. Solar is a probability at this point for me, and maybe wind depending on conditions of where I pick. It seems prices of solar have come down, at least on used panels. I've also looked into making your own panels. It's fine with me that this is headed off topic, because it looks like our topics run in the same vein! Thanks and I'll check out your thread.
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by five_slow »

just saw this thread. YOU DO NOT WANT TO USE NORMAL STEEL AROUND THIS FUEL PERIOD!!! I have a new mustang that makes over 700HP and its tuned to run on E85. so with the conversion came all the research and I keep a E85 tester in the car at all times for this first reason. Using E85 as an example if you were to put it in a normal steel container it would cause the container to rust pretty quick because it attracts moisture. Iv seen in person 2 pumps that the fuel (e85) came out orange which told me the store owner did not comply with the regulations. use stainless for making fuel. and unless you are a chemist and can tell the exacts of your fuel do not run it in your car especially if its not tuned for it. remember in a general theory it takes around 30% more fuel than normal gasoline.
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Re: Still materials for alcohol fuel

Post by BigSwede »

Make likker and trade it for gasoline if we end up in that sort of society! ;)
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