A Rough Guide With Excellent Tips For Making Biodiesel Fuel
It’s entirely possible that making biodiesel may be a new concept to you. Maybe you will have seen one of those soy powered buses around the place, peaking your interest, or you might just be fed up with those horrible prices at the petrol station. Have you calculated the size of your carbon footprint yet? Each one of us is pausing to consider how we contribute in one way or the other to the threat of global warming and as we get increasingly more frustrated at the site of politicians bickering and taking no action, we must step in.
Some people think that they cannot make biodiesel fuel cost effectively or safely, but they are incorrect. Thousands of people can testify to the fuel’s efficiency as they use it during their daily lives. So long as you have a modicum of common sense and take some time to understand the process, you will be able to proceed perfectly well. You do not need a degree in chemistry and will be able to find the ingredients required rather easily.
It’s essential to remember that you should beware of using any overly simplistic advice or a simply written ‘how to,’ like this one that follows, and before actually attempting to make biodiesel, you’ll need to have exacting information of the process itself and all safety requirements:
Making homemade biodiesel requires you to engage in a process called transesterification. You will be using a catalyst (lye) to remove glycerine from vegetable or animal oils or fats and you will effectively be extracting the oil that you can use in your diesel engine.
Use potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, caustic soda and pick up some methanol as well. Note that you will need to keep the lye and the methanol in water tight containers and you should be aiming to use as pure a product as you can.
Measure out 200 mL of methanol into a sturdy plastic container and then add the lye, or caustic soda. All containers, including the plastic bottle should be tightly closed. Shake the container a few times until everything is dissolved.
Preheat the soy or vegetable oil to about 130°F and pour it into a blender. Add the mixture, close and blend for 30 minutes. The resulting mixture should be decanted into a large and strong bottle with a tight lid. You should let this settle for up to 24 hours and will note that the glycerine, a dark colour, settles at the bottom. When this is the case, extract the biodiesel, essentially the top layer into a clean jar, being careful not to get any of the glycerine layer mixed in.
Next you will need to wash your resultant mixture to remove the remaining imperfections by adding clean water, then letting it settle for about four hours or so, and finally allowing the water to drain through a hole in the bottom of your container that you will have made earlier on.
You may have to repeat the process, but when the product is clear, the water will have evaporated and you will have made your first batch of biodiesel fuel! Now that you know that making biodiesel is possible, look into finding more detailed information on the process and get some essential safety advice, before you begin!