Biodiesel 'Crash Course' Classes- OH, TN, MS, PA, OK, NH, winter/spring 2009

Details about each class:

Biodiesel Production Crash Course:

This is a fast-paced class designed to quickly teach the skills needed for safely making high quality biodiesel, using a unique and truly hands-on format. Students will 'learn by doing' by making their own 5-gallon batches of biodiesel from beginning to end. There is also an opportunity to build your own full-size reactor to take home for those who purchase a parts kit in advance.

Students will spend one day learning basic theory, practicing titration, making mini-batches, and learning quality testing. The second day is devoted to solidifying the theory you just learned, by making biodiesel in realistic "Processor Stations', practicing every step used in a full-size home biodiesel production system. Student teams will operate realistic, tabletop 5-gallon processor systems- a miniature version of the common Appleseed Processor/wash tank/dry tank found around the world- and the tabletop reactor will familiarize them with every valve, tank, pump, switch, and interconnect that would be found in a full-size system. The goal of the class format is to take the hands-on learning experience a big step beyond the '1-liter mini-batch' equipment used in most biodiesel classes. There will also be a full-size reactor system on a trailer at the class, including GL-1 and pot still-type methanol recovery systems.

Background for Crash Course class:

In most biodiesel workshops (including my own Biodiesel Essentials), "hands-on time" usually means a few hours of lab work involving titration and shaking 1-liter soda bottle batches, or, at best, a demonstration by the instructor of some pre-arranged steps in a full-size reactor, performed once, with the students just watching. Neither of these is an ideal learning method for the complexity involved in using a 'real' biodiesel reactor on your own for the first time at home. People who are hands-on learners sometimes need more time on "realistic" equipment operation in addition to the 1-liter shaken soda bottle batch method.

Operating your own processors in class would be more realistic than 1-liter glassware batches. Operating a full system can also make it easier to understand equipment choices that face you as you design your own home system after the class, or help decide on one to purchase.

Format:
In the crash course, you will first learn the basic theory using a standard one-day mini-batch class, then spend the next day actually operating (with a team of 5-8) your own 'realistic' 5-gallon mini-reactor and processing system. You and your team will make decisions and mistakes, with constant personalized guidance to ensure that you understand why every step is done as well as when.

Equipment Building (Crash Course class):
We can also build some processors at the end of the Crash Course, for those students who wish to purchase a parts kit and water heater tank in advance. This is not mandatory and everyone can help build the systems.

Preparation and reading:

Because this is a fast-paced class, it is highly recommended that you purchase, ahead of time, an inexpensive mini-titration/test batch kit from www.utahbiodieselsupply.com and try to make and wash a soda-bottle test batch, using storebought, new oil, before the class. This is not mandatory but the preparation will enhance your class experience.

To make the class run smoothly and so that you get the most out of it, please read the www.biodieselcommunity.org website before the class, so that you have some idea of the basic process. Copies of Biodiesel Homebrew Guide will also be available for sale fpr $15 at the class: www.localb100.com/book.html , and there will be a short handout with some basic formulas for later reference.

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Advanced Topics Biodiesel Production Hands-on Class:
The advanced class is designed for those who already make biodiesel (full-scale or test batches) or have attended hands-on workshops by teachers such as Jennifer Radtke, John Bush, Steve Fugate, BioLyle Rudensey, Carl Shortt, Piedmont Biofuels, Matt Steiman, Frankie Lind, Kalib Kersch, or others who teach from the http://biodieselcommunity.org techniques (check with me if a class is your only hands-on experience).

I encourage experienced biodiesel producers to bring a presentation or photos of their system and discuss their experiences.

This class is geared to both homebrewers and fleet/farm/small commercial producers.

The class covers a wide range of topics, geared especially towards larger scale 'home' production. The class specifically offers heavy hands-on focus on making biodiesel with several major techniques that are useful in your "skillset":

working with high-free-fatty-acid oil

working with high-water feedstocks

acidulating glycerine and wash water for easier disposal and cost savings

testing biodiesel, glycerine, and wash water for soap

producing biodiesel from oils recovered from glycerine

acid-catalyzed esterification options

methanol recovery from biodiesel (GL-1 process) and glycerine.

using glycerine as a solvent in various stages of the process

There will be an extensive hands-on section of the class devoted to techniques for making biodiesel using ethanol instead of methanol, and we will discuss small-scale fuel ethanol production.

We will also discuss water-free soap removal such as the use of the GL-1 process and ion exchange resins.

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About the instructor:
Maria 'girl Mark' Alovert is a biodiesel production technology consultant based in North Carolina. She is the author of The Biodiesel Homebrew Guide, a manual on biodiesel production (http://localb100.com), the founder of the community-written biodiesel homebrewing tutorial site http://biodieselcommunity.org and is the inventor of the Appleseed Processor, an 'open source' design now used by thousands of people around the world to produce biodiesel on a 'homebrew' scale. She has been involved in home-scale biodiesel technology development since 2000, and is currently researching production techniques for high-FFA oils/acid-catalyzed esterification, and ethanol-based biodiesel. She frequently teaches beginning and advanced biodiesel production classes around the country and is a an active participant in biodiesel production discussion forums such as http://biodiesel.infopop.cc

For more information and to register, please see www.girlmark.com/tour