This post details my experience with recharging lead acid batteries without using electricity and developing general plant matter into fuel
I got the big idea that one could recharge lead acid batteries by simply changing the battery acid. That doesn’t work because the plates need to be desulphurized so I concocted a plan to manually was the plates off and call that desulphurization. Then I bought a new battery charger. Its a smart battery charger and it tells me when the charger is desulphurizing and when it is charging. The desulphur part is supposed to be major but this charger doesn’t take long to finish that then it charges the battery. Im planning an experiment to intercept the charging right after the desulphur step and then change the battery acid. Ill see how that works.
I learned about ethyl acetate when I tried to make methanol. You get more ethyl acetate but its all good. I thought ethyl acetate was only good for bacteria food but no, it readily makes good fuel. This is good news. It means that all plant scrap can be easily made into ethanol and methane. Thus recycle cycle looks good.
Two thirds of the ethyl acetate turns into ethanol with a simple reaction with Sodium Hydroxide. The other leftover is Sodium Acetate. This reacts with Hydrochloric Acid and Soda Ash to make Methane. The leftover is Sodium Carbonate which turns into Sodium Bicarbonate with a simple reaction with Carbon Dioxide and we are back at square one.
A simple reaction involves no catalyst, no high pressure, no high temps or special reactor vessels. Just the reactants and a mixing bowl
Im making a machine to charcoalize wood scrap but the intent isnt making charcoal, the intent is to harvest the smoke.
There are three major components 1) Tar 2) Water and 3) Fuel.
The tar makes a big mess and has to be dealt with very seriously. The tars look like petro oil but they are really plant medicine. The paper pulp industry knows how to collect lignin and then burn it in boilers. I bought steel pipe online and while its really steel pipe, its really steam punk decoration. This process is low pressure and this kind of pipe is suitable.
I have two designs right now but there are more.
Zigzag - a non linear pipe route where I stuff the pipes with rolled up aluminum foil. The zigzag is meant to use the tars proclivity to not travel far by offering that opportunity. I dont have any real experience in this so the zigzag is made with short pieces so I can monitor where the tar is left. I can do this with straight pipe by rolling the foil the ling way. Youll still get a good dipstick.
Muffler - 4" vent pipe stuffed with mashed up grocery store charcoal.
The water should be removed before in a wood mass drying step.
The fuels stay in smoke for a long time. The internet says 77F before it condenses. I making a 2" copper coil and Ill put that in a 3" PVC pipe and Ill fill the pipe with water or freeze gel and Ill freeze it. This looks like a good operation for Wisconsin since there is wood and cold natural temps
Interesting project Phillip. I’ll be interested in seeing what your results are. If we are ever in a actual SHTF situation then the ability to rejuvenate lead acid batteries will be a major benefit. I am not aware of any DIYer that has done the same with any of the lithium based batteries.
Where does your ethylacetate come from? While wood carbonization without oxygen produce good amounts of methanol and acetic acid, I did not come across ethylacetate mentioned as an output from any wood processing.
What is real cycle of the process? You start with sodium hydroxide but end with sodium bicarbonate. I miss at least one step how to close the cycle.
No doubt about it, Koen. But if you do not have ethylacetate as prime product from some biomass processing, preparation from acetic acid and ethanol for production of ethanol could be disputable
Yes you are right… I was wrong Ethyl Acetate doesnt come from plants. The reaction above makes Ethyl Acetate and a Lithium reaction too. Back to Acetic Acid then
Still I do not understand. Wood vinegar contains predominantly methanol, not ethanol. So what ethylacetate we are talking about? And again, what is use of converting ethanol and acetic acid into ethylacetate and back into ethanol?
Hi Kamil,
For me, there is fun in doing and trying to do things…
Most of the time no obvious reason but fun …
Everything starts with an idea… then questions like “can this be done ?”
Lets pay tribute to those who did and showed us their results…
If not done in the past, we still would be starting fire with 2 stones ?
I want to take this part of life with a need of lemons… to stop me all day long…
I enjoy others doing… once in a while i get really amazed how smart others can be…
Don’t get me wrong, Koen. I admire all enthusiasts and DIY people as you do. I am just curious whether Phillip did not discover something special what I was not able to find during my own exhaustive research on the matter.
Hi I talked about ethyl acetate because I made a mistake. I thought ethyl acetate and acetic acid were the same thing. Thats why. I did a bad job. Im sorry. I won’t make that mistake again. Count on me!
Sometimes concepts or things have several names for the same thing. I thought that was the case here. I was uninspired with acetic acid and I wanted to believe something else and I got weak.
I want to make this stuff so I can electricity to the grid and I need cheap fuel. When I shop for acetic acid on the net I see it sells for $50 a gallon. Thats pretty good. I plan on selling my product for $2 a gallon but I can sell large quantities. Also acetic acid’s conjugate base acetate, is Green plastic foundation and has a large demand. They call it Cellulosic Acetate. I dont know how to sell that. I dont have a business arm of that maturity.
A new step is buying a quart of acetic acid and trying the methane reaction.
first steps in making wood vinegar… choose the right temperature and multi stages… selective distillation…