Make your own biodiesel: Journey to Forever Part 5

Make your own biodiesel: Journey to Forever
Detailed description of methods of creating biodiesel and its related issues.

Click Here to Make $20-$75/Hour for Your Opinion

Make your first test batch
Here's what you need:

• 1 litre of new vegetable oil, whatever the supermarket sells as cooking oil
• 200 ml of methanol, 99+% pure
• lye catalyst -- either potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
• blender or mini-processor
• scales accurate to 0.1 grams, preferably less -- 0.01 grams is best
• measuring beakers for methanol and oil
• half-litre translucent white HDPE (#2 plastic) container with bung and screw-on cap
• 2 funnels to fit the HDPE container
• 2-litre PET bottle (water or soft-drinks bottle) for settling
• two 2-litre PET bottles for washing
• duct tape
• thermometer

See Accurate measurements

All equipment should be clean and dry.

For methanol, you can use "DriGas" fuel antifreeze from an automotive store. One type of DriGas is methanol, another is isopropanol, make sure to get the methanol one. Also try "stove fuel" from hardware stores or home centres (but check the contents to make sure it's pure methanol, it could also be "white gas", which is gasoline and doesn't work), or try a chemicals supply company. See Methanol suppliers

You can get lye at hardware stores, or from soapmakers' suppliers (try online). KOH lye works better than NaOH. "Red Devil" lye drain-cleaner is no longer made. Don't use Drano or ZEP drain-cleaners or equivalents with blue or purple granules or any-coloured granules, it's only about half NaOH and it contains aluminium, it won't work for biodiesel. Shake the container to check it hasn't absorbed moisture and coagulated into a useless mass, and make sure to keep it airtight.


Click Here to Make $20-$75/Hour for Your Opinion