How to Make Biodiesel Fuel at Home

Biodiesel is a great alternative to traditional oil products. It is clean, energy efficient and easy on your pocketbook -- not to mention the environment. Derived from used cooking oils, like those discarded by area restaurants, biodiesel can be used to both heat your home and fuel your car without any major changes to your existing appliance systems. The only thing you'll have to be sure of is to clean out the tank of your home heating oil or gas tank in your car to be sure no residue is left behind before filling it with your homemade fuel. Then, fill the tank and go.

Things You'll Need

• Used cooking oil 55 gallon Steel oil drum Cement blocks 5 gallon Paint buckets with lids Drill Candy thermometer Low voltage motor Heating source Paint mixer with long handle Methanol Lye Chemical scale Eye dropper 3 Graduated test tubes Isopropyl alcohol pH tester package Goggles Gloves Tarp or other covering Fire extinguisher

Instructions

1. Find an oil supplier. There's no need to pay for the used vegetable oil you will need to make your fuel. Restaurants pay thousands of dollars every year to have their oil discarded. Most are more than happy to give it away to anyone willing to take it. It helps you and it saves them money! Of course, you'll need a lot of it, so you may want to contact several restaurants in your area to set up a pick-up schedule.

2. Filter the oil. Some waste oils have food particles in it, which need to be removed in order to use it to make fuel. To strip the oil of any food stuff, be sure to fit your storage tanks with specially designed filters found at any restaurant supply store, or make your own using cheesecloth or panty hose.

3. Get rid of the water in the oil. Most waste oils contain water particles from the cooking process. This needs to come out before you can proceed with the chemical reactions necessary to make bio-diesel.

   Simply heating the oil to a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) will cause the water to boil out of the oil. To avoid pocktss of water from forming in the oil and popping up later (making a huge mess), use a mixer during the boiling process. Larger batches will require using a paint mixer featuring a longer handle.

4. Determine your oil's pH levels. Called Titration, this step involves getting your oil's pH levels to 8.5. After using your pH test kit to determine its current level, you may need to add lye in order to raise it. You'll likely need 3.5 grams of lye for each liter of fresh oil, but when working with used oil, it is sometimes necessary to add even more because of the oil's high fat content. Taking a test batch will help you maintain the correct pH balance for the whole batch of bio-diesel.

   Remember, lye must be kept dry until use, so, for now, mix up a lye solution using 1 gram of lye for one liter of distilled water. Set aside.

   In a clean glass bowl or beaker, measure out 10ml of the isopropyl alchohol. Add 1ml of the strained oil and then 1ml of the lye solution. Using the litmus paper that came in the pH kit, test this mixture for a pH reading. Continue adding the lye solution, keeping track of the total amount of lye, 1ml at a time, until the pH of the mixture is 8.5.

5. Mix the methanol and the lye. It cannot be overstated here that these chemicals can be deadly if not used properly.

   To add methanol to the lye, measure out 200 ml of methanol and pour it into a container with a lid, using a funnel. When you are making larger batches of bio-diesel, you will be using 5 gallon buckets for this part of the process. Be sure not to breathe in any of the fumes that result from the pouring motion. Using a separate funnel, pour the measure lye (as determined by your test batch) into the container and close the lid tightly. Swirl the container around for one minute. You will feel the container getting warm; this is the chemical reaction taking place between the methanol and the lye.

6. Add the mixture to the oil. Pre-heat the oil to about 130 degrees Fahrenheit and pour it into the blender. Carefully add the lye/methanol mixture and cover the blender. Using a low speed, mix these for at least 30 minutes. Don't hover over the blender, as there will still be fumes emitted from the mixture at this point and all mixing should be done in a well ventilated area.

7. Transfer and wait. Once the liquids are mixed, it is time to transfer the product to another container for settling. Using a glass or plastic jar or bottle for your test batch (and later a 55 gallon drum!), pour the liquid into the container and seal it. Wait at least 24 hours before disturbing the mixture! You can watch it as much as you like, but leave it alone at this point. The only thing left is for the glycerin to settle and the bio-diesel to rise to the top. The bio-diesel will be amber in color, and the glycerin is much darker and should form a layer on the bottom of the container.

   Carefully pour off the bio-diesel, leaving behind the glycerin. Be very careful not to remix the two substances together. Your new fuel is done.

Tips & Warnings

• Making and using your own biodiesel does have some drawbacks to consider. The two main ones are: emissions and temperature. Several studies have shown an increase in Nitrous Oxide emissions when using bio-diesel fuels, which could harm the environment. Low temperatures can impede the flow of the fuel through the engine, making biodiesle hard to use in low-temperature climates.