Hands-on Advanced Topics biodiesel classes- PA and OK

Biodiesel Production Hands-on Classes:

-Beginners: Hands-on Crash Course: Operate Your Own Reactor format
-Advanced Topics: Hands-on Advanced Topics course on ethanol biodiesel, methanol recovery, high-FFA oils, and more

with Maria 'girl Mark' Alovert
and guest instructors

Biodiesel Advanced Topics/Farm Scale biodiesel production class schedule:

Mifflinburg, PA (with Preston Boop of Briar Patch Organic Farms)
March 14-15

Edmund, OK (with Carl Shortt of Okiebiofuel.com)
March 28-29

both classes are preceded by a beginners' Crash Course class.

upcoming: Anchorage, Alaska Crash Course and Advanced topics classes, early June
possible Seattle WA Advanced Topics class, late May

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cost:
$140 regular and $108/$95 early registration (see website for cutoff dates for early registration discounts)

no one turned away for lack of funds

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