Appleseed Biodiesel Processor
The Appleseed Biodiesel Processor
Photo courtesy of www.biodieselcommunity.org
The Appleseed Biodiesel Processor is a water heater based processor made popular by Maria "Girl Mark" Alovert, through the internet and her nationwide workshop tours where she teaches making biodiesel using the Appleseed reactor design. Her course material eventually turned into an ezine that Girl Mark publishes herself. Her book Biodiesel Homebrew Guide is available through her web site www.localb100.com/book.html.
Like so many of the world's greatest inventions, Girl Mark drew her original design on the back of a napkin at a coffeehouse as a project for an East Bay (California) Biodiesel Internship she was teaching with Jennifer Radtke of Biofuel Oasis and Backyardbiodiesel.org. While assembling the first water heater-based processor as part of the course, Girl Mark and a number of the students, including Amber Crowley, worked out some of the kinks in the design. The original criteria for the design included:
- No welding required
- Readily available parts
- Improved safety
After the course was over Girl Mark led the effort to develop the design with the aid of the Internet. Using a number of forum boards for communication, Girl Mark was able to engage a large number of volunteers to test out and improve on the design.
The result is the biodiesel processor that is now known as the Appleseed, which has been adopted as a safe, reliable standard. As the safest and lowest cost design available, it is the processor design of choice for thousands of biodiesel enthusiasts in the US and other countries. It can be built in a day and, if based on a 40 gallon water heater, typically makes 25 gallons at a time. If relying heavily on used parts, one can be built for under $400. If using all new parts it can cost upwards of $800. There are several internet stores selling biodiesel kits and turnkey processors based on the appleseed design for prices ranging from $600 to $6,000
The reactor design has continued to develop over the years and numerous improvements and upgrades can be found on the infopop forum, including a design which flips the water heater upside down. In our next post on the Appleseed we will cover an upgraded Appleseed Biodiesel Processor in more detail.
Use ourforum to make comments and suggestions.
An Updated Appleseed Biodiesel Processor
In this version the only part that may be difficult to find locally is the bimetallic thermometer and it can be found on the internet at most of the biodiesel equipment supply web sites. The plumbing should be made out of black pipe, but galvanized will do in a pinch. Brass ball valves are good, just make sure the ball on the inside is made out of metal. Some of the cheaper ones are metal plated plastic balls. While a used water heater will work, it's a lot easier to start with a new one. You'll spend at least a day cleaning out a used one and the fittings may not want to come out. If you look you may be able to find a scratch and dent or returned water heater that the hardware store may sell you at a discount. You want to get the cheapest electric water heater available in the size you want. The more expensive ones have electronic controls on them that would make wiring the water heater difficult. For processors made out of 40 gallon or smaller water heaters, I prefer the low-boy or short fat water heaters because mixing can be better in them. It's easier to drain the glycerin more cleanly with less mixed bio/glycerin with a tall skinny water heater. When building your Appleseed Processor, you will want to remove both the dip tube in the cold water inlet and the anode rod. The dip tube is a plastic tube found under the nipple in the cold water inlet. Once the nipple is out, the dip tube will break loose by sticking a screwdriver down inside the dip tube and rocking the handle from side to side. Once it's broken loose, just jam a finger down in the dip tube and pull it out. The anode rod is usually found on the top of the water heater under a plate and is usually labeled. So far all of them I've seen have been a 1-1/16" hex. The same size found on a ford truck tire tool. 
Both the vent and the pressure relief valve on top need to be plumbed away from your workspace. The vent will during normal operation emit methanol vapors and you want them directed to where they can be dissipated without risk of poisoning people or animals. The stock TNP can be left in or replaced with a pipe plug. One note is that as the temperature rises near 200F the valve will crack open and leak, so it will need to be plumbed like the vents, away from your workspace. You will also need to disable the upper heating element. More on that later. |
|
 |
Bill of Materials
|
The Classic Appleseed reactor is a no welding required processor that is easy to assemble from locally acquired materials. It was made popular by Maria "Girl Mark" Alovert in her whirlwind of 
Note 1) Available from Northern Tools (Item# 109955).
Note 2) TEEs are specified as end x end x middle so a 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/2" TEE would have the 1/2" threads in the middle and the 3/4" threads on the ends.
Note 3) This thermometer is available from B100 Supply. It can sometimes be found used for BBQ grills as well. The earlier versions used an automotive mechanical water temperature gauge.
Note 4) If you purchase from the big box hardware store, all that will be available will be PVC tubing. PVC tubing is not compatible with biodiesel and will eventually degrade and fail. As soon as you notice the tubing start to degrade, replace it with either new tubing or steel plumbing.
Use ourforum to make comments and suggestions.
Get the companion book to this web site