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Did you know that you can turn common, household cooking oil into biodiesel fuel? The fuel is made by causing a reaction between vegetable oil and other common chemicals. Making it yourself could save you money on gas! You can use it in any diesel engine by itself or combined with other petroleum-based fuel. It's less expensive, renewable, and burns clean. The basic ingredients are: - Vegetable oil - Sodium hydroxide (also known as lye), found in many drain cleaners - Methanol (methyl alcohol), found in some fuel treatments When it comes to the containers, glass is preferred since some chemicals may react with plastic. You'll need a blender, a digital scale that measures in grams, and 3 different containers for pouring and storing the liquid. You may want to label the containers as "toxic" since you wouldn't want them being used for food purposes later. You'll also need some safety glasses, gloves, and an apron to protect your skin against the chemicals. When you begin transforming cooking oil into biodiesel fuel, you want to make sure you are working in a well-ventilated area to guard against fumes becoming too strong. The room temperature should be around 70° F since some chemical reactions won't happen if the temperature is too low. The process is amazingly simple. You simply pour the methanol into the blender, then add the sodium hydroxide at low speed. You'll then add the vegetable oil to the mixture, and blend a while longer. All you do now is pour the mixture into a wide-mouth container and wait. You will notice the liquid separating into layers. The bottom layer is glycerin, and the top layer is the biodiesel. Wait a couple of hours for the mixture to fully separate, then simply pour off the biodiesel layer or use a pump to pull it off of the glycerin. You may want to save the glycerin for other projects, but it's not needed for the fuel. Ready to Use! You can use the pure mixture described above as a fuel in any unmodified diesel engine. However, here are two instances where you will need to mix it with another petroleum-based diesel: - If the engine will be run at a temperature lower than 55° F (13° C). The colder your conditions, the higher percentage of petroleum base you want to use. - If the engine has natural rubber seals or hoses, use a mixture of 20% biodiesel with 80% petroleum based. The pure form can degrade natural rubber. An alternative would be to replace the rubber with polymer parts, which would allow you to run the pure mixture. For best effectiveness, you will want to use the fuel within 10 days after it's made. After that time, the stability is greatly diminished. After 2 months, it is normally deemed unusable. Turning cooking oil into biodiesel is relatively easy if you have the right equipment and take necessary precautions. It's a great way to save a few dollars on fuel for your diesel engine! When looking for a company that converts cooking oil into biodiesel, Portland, OR residents visit Oregon Oils Incorporated. Learn more at http://www.oregonoilsinc.com/bio-diesel/.
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