A Rough Guide With Excellent Tips For Making Biodiesel Fuel
In all likelihood, making biodiesel may not have entered your mind before. You might on occasion have come across one of those buses, fuelled by soy power and wondered what it was all about, or you might just have had enough of those constant ups and downs 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. However, all the materials that you need are readily available and you do not need a degree in chemistry to help you to get through it!
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.
The catalyst you need is basically potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, also known as caustic soda and you also need methanol. 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. Tightly close the plastic bottle container. Shake the container a few times until everything is dissolved.
The soy or vegetable oil needs to be heated to 130°F and poured into a blender. Add your mixture, close tightly and blend for about 30 minutes. Pour the result into a sturdy, large bottle with a tight lid. After 24 hours of settling, the glycerine, which is the darker colour, is settled on the bottom. Remove the top layer, which is the biodiesel, into a clean jar, being very careful not to mix in any of the glycerine.
Your results will need to be washed to get rid of imperfections and you basically need to add clean water to the mixture, leave to settle for three hours or more and then allow the water to drain off, ideally through a hole you have previously prepared in the bottom of your mixture container.
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! Before you get started on your new road to discovery, get your hands on some expert safety advice – which is essential, on how to make biodiesel to an internationally accepted standard, while being safe doing it!
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