How to Make Biodiesel

Biodiesel is one of the very best ways to reduce your dependency on foreign oil. Some older diesel engines can run off of straight used vegetable oil, but not all vehicles can. If you want to run a modern, efficient and clean diesel engine on biofuel, then you should convert vegetable oil into biodiesel, and convert your vehicle to run on it. Here's how to do it.

Things You'll Need

• Source oil
• Filtering system
• Warming and preparation vessel that can stir
• 99 percent pure methanol
• Measuring pipettes and beakers
• 95 percent pure sulphuric acid
• Prepared methoxide mixture
• Glass sampling vessel
• Washing vessel
• Washing water
• 10 percent pure phosphoric acid
• Aerator
• Holding container
• Fuel storage container

Instructions

First Stage to Make Biodiesel

1. Filter your oil to remove particulates such as bits of burned French fries. Use a series of filter screens. You can buy clean, unused oil if you wish to skip this part of the process.

2. Remove water from the oil by warming it to 60 degrees C and hold it there for 15 minutes. Pour the oil into a settling tank and let it separate for 24 hours. Then drain the water from below or drain the oil from above.

3. Measure your oil precisely, and heat it until all the solids have melted. It is imperative that you know how much oil you are using so that your proportions will be correct with all of the other ingredients.

4. Add 99 or higher percent pure methanol to the oil. Use a ratio of 8 percent methanol to the total amount of oil.

5. Blend the methanol into the oil for at least 5 minutes. The oil/methanol mixture will become cloudy at this stage.

6. Add 1 ml of concentrated (95 percent pure) sulphuric acid for every liter of oil. Sulphuric acid is extremely powerful and dangerous, so take every safety precaution when handling it.

7. Stir the mixture gently for an hour at 35 degrees C. The remove the heat source and continue stirring gently for another 2 hours. Allow it to sit for at least 8 hours or longer.

8. Lightly reheat the mixture if any of it has solidified while it rested. Pour half of a 12 percent volume prepared methoxide mixture into the oil and mix for 5 minutes.

Second Stage to Make Biodiesel

1. Warm the oil mixture to 55 degrees C and keep it at that temperature for this entire stage.

2. Add the remainder of the prepared methoxide and stir it gently.

3. Drain off glycerin, from the bottom of the vessel if possible. Start draining 20 to 25 minutes after the beginning of this reaction.

4. Take samples every few minutes to gauge the progress. When the mixture becomes yellow, which generally happens between 1 ½ and 2 ½ hours, stop mixing and turn off the heat. Settle the mixture for an hour.

Third Stage to Make Biodiesel

1. Prepare your washing water in another vessel. Add 10 percent pure phosphoric acid to the water in the amount of 2 to 3 ml/L. The volume of water should be 33 percent the volume of biodiesel.

2. Add your biodiesel to the washing vessel. Be certain the temperatures of both the water and the oil are similar.

3. Insert an air bubbler, such as an aquarium stone. Allow it to operate for at least 24 hours.

4. Turn off the aerator and allow the mixture to settle and separate for half an hour. The water will settle to the bottom of the vessel and appear white.

5. Drain off the water. Repeat this washing procedure two more times.

6. Remove the biodiesel from the washing vessel. Do not allow it to contact the now separated water, or you will need to allow the fuel and the washing water to separate again.

7. Allow the biodiesel to stand until it clarifies, a process which takes up to three weeks.

8. Place the biodiesel into an appropriate holding tank. Prevent any deposits that accumulate from getting into your vehicle's fuel tank.

9. You have just made biodiesel! Use it in your car, and know that you are doing a good thing for the environment. Enjoy the smell of French fries coming from your tailpipe.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice this process first on a small, 1 liter amount. You will learn what to look for and how to proceed.

• Many of the chemicals in this manufacturing process are extremely hazardous. Take every precaution if you try to make biodiesel.