What’s the difference between trap grease and fryer grease?
Trap grease is very different from fryer oil (also known as used cooking oils or recycled vegetable oil). Fryer oil is from a restaurant’s deep fryer. When it comes out of the fryer it is put in special containers and collectors often pay restaurants for this cooking by-product. The fryer grease is then sold as biodiesel feedstock or as an animal feed additive. Trap grease is grease that has gone down a drain in a restaurant and been captured in an underground sewer grease trap or interceptor. Restaurants pay pumpers to take this odorous, contaminated waste away. For more on trap grease, click here. I make biodiesel from virgin oils and/or yellow grease - can I easily switch to trap grease?
Chemically, trap grease and other brown greases are very different from yellow grease, and unique conversion technology is required. BlackGold’s engineers can evaluate whether your biodiesel production facility can be cost-effectively retrofit with our proprietary technology to process brown greases. The first step is to identify what your brown grease sources and volumes are – and if you plan to work with trap grease, how the water in the crude trap grease will be handled. What’s the difference between brown and yellow grease?
The terms “Yellow” and “Brown” grease are generic industry terms that refer to grades of partially rendered fats, oils, and greases based on their free fatty acid (FFA) content. Yellow grease has less than 15% FFA. For example, most used fryer oil is yellow grease. Brown grease has more than 15% FFA. For example, trap grease and clarifier scum are brown greases. Can I buy your technology?
Please refer to the licensing section. How much does BlackGold’s FOG-to-Fuel™ license and processing unit cost?
Costs are determined on a project by project basis depending on the volumetric scale and the infrastructure already present at the project site. Setting up the equipment to convert brown grease to biodiesel is a bargain compared to the enormous sums of money paid for FOG-related problems. Costs such as sewer line jetting, residential and commercial sewer back-ups, sewer overflows, wastewater infrastructure O&M costs, and trucking POTW grease offsite all have the potential to be eliminated or reduced with BlackGold’s processing technology. Independent of these savings, projects have a compelling payback period that quickens as the project scale increases. How is trap grease collected? Does BlackGold pump it? Can I?
Just like there is an industry pumping out septic tanks and transporting the wastes to a WWTP, there is also a robust industry that pumps out grease traps. The grease traps need to be pumped in order to keep grease out of the sewers – this need existed well before BlackGold’s technology enabled this material to be converted to fuel. More on the lifecycle of trap grease can be found here. How much biodiesel does your pilot plant produce in one year?
The pilot plant can produce about 20,000 gallons/year of biodiesel. However, we don’t run the production track full time. The pilot plant was built as a small, temporary facility in an old storage warehouse, and continuous fuel production is not cost effective at this scale. As a technology provider, BlackGold’s time and resources are best spent making continual optimizations to our technology to make our process even more cost-effective. Can your technology process multiple feedstocks?
Yes. BlackGold’s technology offers biodiesel producers unprecedented feedstock flexibility. BlackGold’s technology works independent of FFA and Triglyceride content, from 100% FFA to 100% Triglyceride and each ratio in between. Brown greases, yellow greases, animal fats, and virgin oils can be converted to biodiesel with BlackGold’s technology. Click here for more information about BlackGold’s process. Are you planning on building a commercial facility?
BlackGold is a technology provider, not a biodiesel producer. Thus, BlackGold focuses on helping others utilize its novel technology to produce biodiesel on their own. Are you hiring?
BlackGold does not have any openings right now, but as we continue to grow positions will become available. Feel free to submit your resume with a cover letter and it will be kept on file. Do you have internships available?
BlackGold supports the development of a green collar workforce and offers internships both in our business office and pilot plant for people of all ages interested in building expertise in the renewable energy and cleantech sectors. Availability varies. Submit your resume with a cover letter. Can I come tour your plant?
BlackGold’s technology is confidential and proprietary and therefore the pilot plant is not open to the public. If you are looking for more information or educational resources about biodiesel, click here. During the licensing process, opportunities exist for potential licensees to tour the plant. |
