Making Biodiesel

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Production of Biodiesel

Biodiesel is an environmental alternative to fossil fuel diesel. It�s cheaper, clean burning, non-toxic, renewable, high quality diesel fuel that can be used in a diesel motor or generator without modification.

Here�s how I make biodiesel:

Remove food particles from WVO (waste vegetable oil)

Remove water by heating to 100�C; when boiling slows, heat to 130�C for ten minutes.

Determine how much lye is needed to raise pH of WVO and isopropyl alcohol to 8-9

Now it turns out that it takes 3.5 grams of lye for the transesterfacation of clean WVO. This rate must also be added to the calculated amount. So let�s say 1gram of NaOH/ liter WVO is required to titrate the test solution to pH 8-9. Add an additional 3.5 grams to this amount and one finds the total amount of Lye need per liter of WVO.

Prepare sodium methoxide

Plan to use 20% methanol (Heet)to 100% WVO (densities of liquids are the
same). For example, use 20 ml methanol to 100 ml WVO. Mix together
methanol and lye (NaOH)

Heat and mix to make reaction go
A. Preheat WVO to 48-54�C, stir with propeller
B. Add sodium methoxide to WVO

Transesterfacation:

Separation - Allow solution to cool and sit for at least eight hours

Note:
Glycerin can be purified by heating it to 65.5�C to boil off excess methanol, making it safe for skin contact.

Bring the pH of the biodiesel back down to 7 with vinegar (acetic acid)
Remove any soap in the biodiesel with water

After adding water to extract soap, decant water and soap from the biodiesel. It will be necessary to boil the biodeisel to rid it of any water left behind. This is done by repeating the second step of this process: Remove water by heating to 100�C; when boiling slows, heat to 130�C for ten minutes. I let the biodiesel sit for about week after this to be sure all soap has settled out.

The final product!