Middletown is home to Pennsylvania's first biofuel
processing plant. Here pure 100% virgin vegetable oil becomes ready-to-use non-toxic fuel to heat homes and power vehicles.
Group tours are available by appointment and we'll be glad to speak to
schools & organizations. Call 717-948-5002
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1. Vegetable Oil-In:
100% virgin soybean oilis brought primarily by rail and unloaded and stored
in tanks.
2. Pre-Mix Prep:
Before being thinned all water is removed from the oil and it's slightly heated to make the thinning out process more efficient.
3. Thinning Agent:
The thinnning agent is prepared next by adding it to vegetable oil in the mixing tank.
4. Mixing Tank:
Vegetable oil is thinned to become the consistency of water and petrol diesel. This 150-year-old process combines the vegetable oil with the thinning agent to create biodiesel and soap.
5. Excess Thinner Recovered:
The first step in purifying biodiesel is to remove any thinning agent not
completely used in the mixing. Any excess is removed, purified and then available
to be used again.
6. Soap/Biodiesel Separation:
Settling tanks hold the biodiesel for up to 8 hours so that the heavier soap can settle to the bottom and be separated from the now golden, water-like biodiesel.
7. Biodiesel Polishing:
The polishing step is the name given to the combination of filters used to further purify and clean the biodiesel and remove even the smallest of impurities.
8. Quality Control:
We constantly take samples and test the quality of the biodiesel produced to ensure that it meets the national standard for pure biodiesel.
9. To You:
From
here the soap is processed as non-toxic anti-freeze or used in the cosmetics
and pharmaceutical industries. The biodiesel is shipped by rail or truck
to our partners, users and Agra Heat distributors throughout PA... to heat,
power and fuel cleanly.
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