Making Biodiesel At Home Using Waste Vegetable Oil
This article is for those who are a little more experienced at
making biodiesel at home and who wish to progress from using
straight vegetable oil to waste oil. As users of biodiesel fuel
know vegetable oil will react very similarly to diesel fuel in a
diesel engine. Like diesel fuel, biodiesel will ignite when
compressed causing air in the engine cylinders to expand. This
is the energy that pushes the engine pistons into motion.
The reason you must make biodiesel is that if you burned
straight unprocessed oils in the diesel engine it would simply
congeal and then clot your fuel injectors and engine like
cholesterol hardening human arteries.
There are many biodiesel recipes for removing the fatty acids
from oil.
Here is a very common and reputable recipe for making biodiesel
at home from waste oil.
You will need:
Used or fresh vegetable oil (that has been strained so that it
is free of particulates such as food crumbs) Lye
Methanol
Isopropyl Alcohol (99% IPA)
eyedropper- or other type of 1 milliliter dropper
PH paper (to test for acidity )
an old blender
plastic or glass measuring cups or beakers, with metric
measures-- and/or a gram scale
plastic, glass or stainless stirrers and spoons,
plastic buckets
1. Dissolve 1 gram NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide- Lye) in 1000 ml. of
water. This is your NaOH solution.
2. Dissolve 1ml. of wasted vegetable oil in 10 ml. Isopropyl
Alcohol(IPA).
3. With an eyedropper, drop the diluted NaOH into wasted
vegetable oil mixture a milliliter at a time. Count the drops.
After each drop check the ph level of the WVO solution with
standard ph paper-- you will see an eventual rise in the ph
level. Continue to add the NaOH solution into the WVO solution,
a drop at a time, until it reaches a ph of 8-9.
To determine your proportions, figure:
The number of drops of NaOH needed for the WVO solution to
reach a ph of 8-9 1 ml. plus 3.5 g. NaOH to catalyze the oil.
Then go ahead and prepare a larger batch in your blender. Don't
forget to clarify, settle and bubble wash this mixture as usual
and remember to follow the usual safety precautions for making
biodiesel at home.