Manifold5

A pumping and filtering manifold for recycling vegetable oil as a fuel for a diesel vehicle V

Design # 5 for low cost high volume, adequate purity applications

Transfer pumps and filters:

In February of this year (2006) I went to a fuel depot supply house in Tucson, AZ (USA), where I bought a cheap Tuthill Fill Right FR1604 series 10 GMP 12-volt DC transfer pump <http://www.tuthill.com /> It is quite reasonably priced at about $169. The pump comes with a ¾” O-ring to ¾” barb fitting that should be replaced with a Parker ¾” O-ring to 1” NPT fitting to make it more useful for transferring recycled vegetable oils. The pump seems to have the throat for a larger fitting, so if it can be found then the pump might be perfect, because it will deliver 7-10 GPM at 12 to 24 VDC.

At that time I also bought a 3-foot (1 meter) long telescoping pickup for $20 (Tuthill). The bottom end of the telescoping pickup has a square hole on each side with a small tab of metal. I used diagonal cutters to clip off the small tab of metal at the bottom-end of each square hole, so that a short 1” nipple could then be hose clamped to the end of the telescoping pickup. To the 1” nipple I screwed a pickup screen, which I found at the same place. It cost about $20 as well. The telescoping pickup comes with a 1” NPT fitting at the other (top) end. To this I screwed a 1” quick-release fitting.

To contain the mess of oil dripping from the end of the telescoping pickup I made a transport container out of 3.5 feet of 3” PVC with a cap at both ends. I glued the bottom cap on and glued a flange on the top end to mate with a screw-on cap.

At the fuel depot supply store I also bought a 30-micron disposable diesel fuel spin-on filter and its manifold (Tuthill). The manifold cost about $20, which came with 1” NPT fittings. The 30-micron disposable diesel fuel spin-on filter cost about $10.

I then drove to an industrial hose supplier and ordered a 20-foot long clear vinyl suction hose to be made to go between the ¾” O-ring to ¾” barb fitting and terminating in a 1” NPT male fitting. They made it for me while I waited and the hose assembly cost $50. To that 1” NPT male fitting on the hose I screwed a 1” quick-release fitting, which cost about $10. I have since found that I can just have 1” quick-release to 1” barb

fittings attached to my hoses. The suction hose I connected to the intake on the pump, and the other end of the hose I connect to the telescoping pickup with the 1” quick-release fitting for collection.

For storage I acquired several empty 55-gallon drums for no charge from a local fuel depot here in Blythe. They dispose of them, which costs them money, so if they can give them away, it saves them money.

07-18-06
Using the cheap Fill Right series FR1604 10 GMP 12 volt DC transfer pump I transferred 55 gallons of recycled vegetable oil from a tallow bin behind a restaurant in Blythe, CA in about 10 minutes. The ambient temperature was about 117 deg F. Later that day I stopped at an irrigation supply store and bought a 1 ¼” Y-trap with a standard 50-mesh screen in it.

07-19-06
This morning I transferred the 55 gallons I collected the day before to another 55-gallon drum and tried to filter it through the 50-mesh (297 micron) Y-trap then through the 30-micron disposable fuel filter. The fluid pumped remarkably rapidly for the first few minutes but bogged down quickly to a trickle. When the pump started to smoke. I took apart the filtering manifold to see which section was clogged up.

Even though the 50-mesh trap is a fairly fine mesh I found it barely had debris in it, so I removed the 30-micron filter, and started pumping again. The fluid moved quickly through the Y-trap for the duration of the 10 minutes of pumping. I re-examined the 50-mesh Y-trap screen after the pumping session and found a small collection of debris in it. The conclusion is I need a finer mesh screen in the Y-trap.

I drove down to a local irrigation supply store in Blythe, CA and found out that there are several mesh sizes available for the screen for the Y-traps. They come in the following sizes:

Conclusions:
The conclusion is we need a finer mesh trap screen, so I will try buying a 1 ½” Y-trap with quick-release screen housing and a 120-mesh screen for $56. This might be enough to keep from over-loading the spin-on 30-micron filter. The replacement screens are $30, however, the Y-traps can be ordered with the screen of one’s choice. It is also possible that one might need two stages of Y-traps so that the Y-trap screen does not over-load in the field in

the middle of pumping 55-gallons of tallow. So, I will leave the 1” Y-trap with the 50-mesh screen in place and add a 1 ½” Y-trap with a 120-mesh screen in it before the spin-on 30 micro diesel fuel filter. If in my next experiment I find the 120-mesh screen over-loads quickly, then I can replace the 50-mesh Y-trap screen with a finer mesh screen (probably 80 or 100-mesh.)

Further, if a replacement 30-micron fuel filter plugs again quickly with a 120-mesh Y-trap ahead of it, then I will need to add a 60-micron filter upstream from the 30-micron spin-on fuel filter. Water sock-filers with 1” NPT fittings on them can be found in almost any hardware store here for about $50. And, one can buy for them a 60-micron “sand and grit” filter at most hardware stores as well.

Since the 1 ¼” Y-trap with the 50-mesh screen does not pose significant resistance to the fluid stream I believe I will be able to place it on the intake side of the pump, so that when I draw oil into my slop tank it will be cleaner.

Containing the mess:
For this experiment I used a plastic utility bin to contain the materials and slop dripping from the inside of the hoses. It worked very well. However, I will also convert all of the fittings to 1” quick-release with caps, male fittings for one end and female fittings for the other end of each hose and device. This way I will be able to tinker-toy everything together as is needed in the field, as well as containing the incredible mess of dripping oil from the inside of each hose. Capping both ends of each hose has the added advantage of preventing dirt from migrating inside the hose. The PVC transport container that I made for the telescoping pickup worked very well to contain the mess dripping from the telescoping pickup and pickup screen.

Improvements:
In the future all hoses will also be upgraded to 1” diameter. I also found that 20 feet of pickup hose is really not enough. 30 to 40 feet (10-11 meters) would be better. Also, the output hose need only be about 5 to 10 feet (2-3 meters) long, because the pump is typically next to the slop barrel in the back of a pickup truck.

The design for the standard Y-trap does not lend itself to easy cleaning, however for $56 they have a 1 ½” trap with quick-release removal of the screen housing to afford easy and quick cleaning.

The ideal pumps seem to be the Fill Right series from Tuthill
Tuthill Corporation 630.382.4900 phone
8500 South Madison 630.382.4999 fax
Burr Ridge, IL 60527 USA

E-Mail: webmaster@tuthill.co m
http://www.tuthill.com /

Ideally the FR4210D (20 GPM) would be best, because it comes with an automatic diesel nozzle for $450

The FR1604 is quite reasonable at about $169, it comes with a ¾” fitting that should be replaced with a 1” NPT fitting to make it more useful. The pump seems to have the throat for the fitting, so if it can be found then the pump might be perfect, because it will deliver 7-10 GPM at 12 to 24 VDC.

They also have 1” pump filters at about $20 and a telescoping suction pipe for $20

Item	Price	qty	extended
Tuthill Fill Right FR1604 series 12-24 volt DC transfer pump	$169.00	1	$169.00
telescoping pickup for (Tuthill)	$20.00	1	$20.00
6” long 1” nipple	$2.00	1	$2.00
20 mesh pickup screen	$20.00	1	$20.00
3 feet of 3” PVC	$3.00	1	$3.00
3” PVC cap	$2.00	1	$2.00
3” PVC flange	$2.00	1	$2.00
3” PVC screw on cap	$2.00	1	$2.00
30-micron disposable spin-on diesel fuel filter	$10.00	1	$10.00
manifold for spin-on diesel fuel filter (Tuthill)	$20.00	1	$20.00
30-foot long 1” ID clear vinyl suction hose with 1” quick release fittings	$75.00	1	$75.00
1” quick-release fittings	$5.00	7	$35.00
1” quick-release fitting, caps	$3.00	7	$21.00
1” NPT elbow	$3.00	1	$3.00
1 1/2” Y-trap with 50 mesh screen	$56.00	1	$56.00
1 1/2” Y-trap with 120 mesh screen	$56.00	1	$56.00
10 feet of 1” hose with 1” quick release fittings	$25.00	1	$25.00
8” diameter water filter housing with 1” NPT fittings	$50.00	1	$50.00
sand & gravel filter cartridge	$10.00	1	$10.00

total			$581.00

Color	Mesh	Microns
-	120	116
Green	100	149
Blue	80	177
Red	50	297
Yellow	30	595
Blue/gray	20	841
Black	12	1680
White	6	3360