How to Make Biodiesel in Your Own Home

With today's ever climbing fuel costs there's never been a better time for you to make biodiesel

. Making your own fuel will not only save you money, but this kind of fuel also burns cleaner than traditional diesel. If you decide to embark on this project then, allow me to share my best three guidelines to help you to succeed.

1. The ingredients you need.- To make your biodiesel you need three things, all of which are easily available. These ingredients are, your fuel base, which is usually used cooking oil, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as lye or caustic soda, and methanol. You will also need some mixing bottles, and a container to heat your oil in. All these things can be obtained from most hardware stores. A visit to a few local fast food restaurants should also give you an adequate supply of used oil.

2. Prepare your oil. - First you will need to clean your used cooking oil. This is achieved by straining it to remove any solid contaminants, and then heating it above 100 centigrade to boil off any water. You will then have clean oil to continue the process with. The original state of your oil will dictate how long this process will take. It is very important that you complete this step with care, as clean and well prepared oil will give you a better end product.

3. Add your other ingredients. - Finally you will need to blend your oil with your lye and methanol mixture. Blending all of the ingredients, whilst heating it, creates a chemical reaction which turns your vegetable oil into diesel fuel. Knowing exactly how much lye and alcohol to add will depend on many factors. You should refer to specialist literature before proceeding.

There are a few safety precautions you should take, one of which is to keep the equipment you use for fuel production exclusively for this task. This is to prevent any possibility of food contamination, as you will probably be working in your kitchen. There is no greater risk of fire than there is when you are deep fat frying, but for this reason you should keep an eye on your mix at all times, and make sure it doesn't overheat.

In the unlikely event of fire, as in any fat fire you should smother it with a wet cloth, and never put water on it as this will just make it worse.

Following these tips will help you successfully make biodiesel. This is the basic process you will undertake, however if you have been convinced to try and make your own, there is plenty of detailed information available to help you. Your fuel will not only be cheaper than regular diesel, but it will produce fewer harmful emissions.. So you will save money, and help save our planet too.

How to Make Biodiesel in Your Own Home

By: Tony Kitson

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