How to make biodiesel

Bio-diesel fuel is an eco-friendly alternative to petro-diesel fuel. It is made from natural crops such as soybean, flax, sunflower, palm oil, jatropha, hemp, rapeseed, mustard, canola and even waste vegetable oils. It is also made of animal fats. If speaking in chemical terms, it is a mixture of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids. Bio-diesel is renewable, biodegradable and non-toxic, which makes it a clean burning fuel.

Bio-diesel is mostly used in automobiles with diesel engines and for heating purpose at home. The recent hike in the fuel prices has made it a necessity to use an alternative fuel. Bio-diesel is the best option as it is cheaper and can even be made at home. With increasing global worming bio-diesel should be the first priority as it is an eco-friendly fuel. Bio-diesel reduces engine wear and tear, which in turn increases the life of the engine and it emits less harmful gases into the environment. To use bio-diesel in your diesel vehicle you do not have change your engine and if any changes are required it won't cost you much. The only problem with bio-diesel is that it causes clogging in filters. This happens because bio-diesel is a solvent and can erode the old deposits on your fuel tank and fuel lines. But its positive side is that after all the deposits are removed and your filter is cleaned regularly, your car will have an overall clean system.

Bio-diesel may not always be made of 100% bio-diesel. It can be mixed with petroleum. B20 is a mixture of bio-diesel and petroleum. It consists of 20% bio-diesel and 80% petroleum, but it is still environment friendly. Only thing it is not as friendly as B100, which contains 100% bio-diesel and no petroleum but if you are planning top use B100 in your car or truck you may have to may some modifications.

Other than its application in automobiles it can be used as a heating fuel for domestic as well as commercial boilers. A research in the UK shows that B20 could reduce the yearly household carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 million tones. This can be possible by converting the existing boilers, which is cheap and easy. The difference in the B20 used for automobiles and heating system is that the B20 used for heating contains 80% heating oil instead of petroleum. It is also possible modify the heating system for B100 fuel. B100 is becoming popular day-by-day and easily available. It is advisable to purchase commercially made B100 fuel rather than the ones made of waste oil at homes as they have additives in them that help to keep the fuel liquid even at low temperatures.

The best feature of bio-diesel is that you can make it your own kitchen without spending a cent. All you need is some vegetable oils, a blender, pet bottles, filters, etc. and always remember to apply the safety measures required to make bio-diesel at home. It is not as easy as it sounds; the process is complicated and lengthy. If you are planning to make bio-diesel fuel at home on a large scale you need to purchase a bio-diesel kit, which help you process the oils to produce bio-diesel.

If you are going to use Waste Vegetable Oil (w v o) please make it has been filtered or cleaned to get rid of any solids that may be left over.

Lye

Methanol

Isopropyl Alcohol (99% IPA)

eyedropper- or other type of 1 milliliter dropper

PH paper (to test for acidity )

an old blender

plastic or glass measuring cups or beakers, with metric measures-- and/or a gram scale plastic, glass or stainless stirrers and spoons, plastic buckets

1. Dissolve 1 gram NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide- Lye) in 1000 ml. of water. This is your NaOH solution.

2. Dissolve 1ml. of wasted vegetable oil in 10 ml. Isopropyl Alcohol(IPA).

3. With an eyedropper, drop the diluted NaOH into wasted vegetable oil mixture a milliliter at a time. Count the milliliters. After each milliliter check the ph level of the WVO solution with standard ph paper-- you will see an eventual rise in the ph level. Continue to add the NaOH solution into the WVO solution, a milliliter at a time, until it reaches a ph of 8-9.

To determine your proportions, figure: The number of milliliters of NaOH needed for the WVO solution to reach a ph of 8-9 1 ml. plus 3.5 g. NaOH to catalyze the oil.

After finishing your test batch you can proceed to do a large batch.Please remember to use a mask when mixing ingredients and keep a fire extinguisher handy as some of these products are extremely flameable.

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