Making Biodiesel at Home

The diesel engines running on biodiesel last longer than the motors using diesel procured from oil companies. Making biodiesel at home is actually recycling the waste oil which usually ends up down the drain. At the same time, it will make you independent of the oil companies totally.

Pros of Using Biodiesel
There are many pros of using biodiesel for your vehicles. They are enumerated here. The most important advantages of using biodiesel is that you do not have to make any modifications to your engine. You will use biodiesel just like any other fossil fuel.Many tests have been conducted on usage of biodiesel in vehicles and the results are encouraging. Although it does not have cold-weather properties like fossil fuels, biodiesel is better than the other alternative fuels. It is a eco-friendly, safe and ready-to-use fuel, unlike other alternative fuels. Biodiesel does not produce high emissions and at the same time it is made from renewable resources, unlike fossil fuels. It is a cheap option for farm equipment.

How to Make Biodiesel at Home
The ingredients required to make biodiesel are:

• 200 ml of Methanol or Ethanol
• Lye catalyst
• 1 liter vegetable or animal oil and fats; triglycerides also can be used instead of vegetable or animal oil
• Old or secondhand blender

It is suggested that biodiesel be made in a small quantity when you are making it for the first time. This will help you to analyze your mistakes, if you make any, and will also give you confidence to make biodiesel at home in large quantities. When making biodiesel for the first time it is advisable to use methanol. The process of making biodiesel from vegetable oil is called ‘transesterification’. The steps to be followed are:

Step 1: The foremost step is to dissolve lye in methanol. Methanol absorbs moisture from the atmosphere. Hence, it is best that methanol is mixed in lye quickly. This step will produce sodium methoxide.
Step 2: Once sodium methoxide is made, add vegetable oil to the sodium methoxide. In this process, three molecules of methyl ester and one molecule of glycerin are formed. Keep stirring the mixture for approximately 25-30 minutes. It’s best to use the blender in this step. There are two reasons for the same. The first reason is that the mixture will get mixed properly. The second that you will not have to waste your energy stirring the mixture. When you are using the blender, use it at the lowest speed. Remove the mixture from the blender and put it into a bottle. Do not forget to cap the bottle tightly.
Step 3: Once you have thoroughly blended the mixture, let it settle. It will take a minimum of 12-15 hours for the mixture to settle. The longer you let the mixture settle the better it is. This step is actually used to separate the glycerin from the mixture. After the mixture is well settled, you will noticed that glycerin has settled at the bottom of the bottle. The color of glycerin is darker than the rest of the mixture.
Step 4: Now slowly segregate the glycerin from the mixture. Glycerin is just a by-product of the entire process. You can now use the biofuel that you have just made. The biodiesel so produced will usually be pale yellowish in color. The color normally depends on the oil that is used. The glycerin just obtained as a by-product is used by the soap industry. Maybe now you will want to make soap at home as well!

The cost of making biodiesel at home can seem high initially. Over a period of time and also when you make your own biodiesel in large quantities, the cost will reduce. The homemade biodiesel will be much cheaper than buying biodiesel from commercial producers.