Biodiesel: Biodiesel Production: Producing Biodiesel on a Household Scale

Automotive Guide Biodiesel Production: Producing Biodiesel on a Household Scale

By: David Sieg

Automotive Guide

By “biodiesel production” we mean …

…making it in quantity. We have moved beyond the testing phase and know pretty much what we are doing at this point. We are making enough for home and/or commercial usage. You will, of course want to make test batches first, and quality test them, but once you have come up with good quality fuel it is then only a question of scale. Biodiesel Production in this article is meant to address the question of scale…producing enough for your own personal needs.

Your personal needs may be enough to heat your house and drive your truck, and that’s fine. Any number of processors or biodiesel kits will help you do just that.

This article is intended as an overview of the biodiesel production process. This is by no means the only way to accomplish this task. There are many ways.

Picture in your mind 3 tanks…

…or barrels sitting side-by side. From left to right, the first tank is your “feedstock.” Either your Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) or your Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) It is half full.

The second tank, is called the “Pre-mix” tank. In this tank you are going to mix the lye and methanol together. Biodiesel will result from the chemical reaction of this process.

The third tank is the “wash” tank. It is here that after the SVO or WVO has been mixed with the catalyst (lye and Methanol) and blended, the crude biodiesel will go. In this tank, water will be misted over the surface and allowed to filter through the biodiesel, ‘washing” any impurities out.

First…

…what we re going to do is half fill the first tank with SVO or WVO. Before buying a building a processor or buying a kit, this is the first question which needs to be answered. Where is the “feedstock” going to come from? Many possible answers; if you live in the city, you can get it from free from restaurants, (WVO) But this is getting increasingly difficult to do. You can also buy it bulk at places as well. Check on line for “Waste Vegetable Oil.” Or you can press your own oil if you’re a farmer. Just address this question in the beginning.

Second…

…in the pre-mix tank we’re going to mix the lye and methanol together and blend them. This is called the “catalyst” and pump the SVO from the first tank into the second tank with the catalyst mixture, and blend them, and allow them time to settle and separate. Once the separation has occurred, you drain the bottom layer (Glycerin) from the tank. What you have left is biodiesel.

The biodiesel is now pumped…

…into the wash tank and water is misted over the surface. The water will work it’s way through the biodiesel, “washing” any impurities out, and collect on the bottom of the tank. The water is then drained off.

You are now cooking with gas…err biodiesel. If you have done your quality testing an are sure of your recipe, then you have just saved yourself a ton of money. Your biodiesel production cycle has ended.

Is it easy?...

…All things are easy once you know how to do them. There is a learning curve, yes. There may be some trial and error involved. But that is part of the journey and part of the fun. There is no reason you can’t be making biodiesel at home.

For more complete information on all aspects of the biodiesel production process, as well as buying kits or building your own processor check out the web site below.

David Sieg is the Managing Director of Global Biotechnology Solutions, an American company based in Vietnam. His expertise is in real world application of alternative fuels and technologies for developing countries. He is also the author of the wildly popular http://www.making-biodiesel-at-home.com web site where he shares his knowledge freely to enable anyone to become energy independent.

Automotive Guide Tag : Biodiesel   Making Biodiesel   Biodiesel Fuel

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