A Quick Lesson In Making Biodiesel

[hoplahey]

Most countries does not allow sale of methanol to the public since it is very toxic and extremely flamable. One static spark is enough to ignite it and it burns with an invisible flame so you are not able to see it burn, you only see the flame when it spreads to other materials. Due to this accidents with methanol tend to be serious.

It should be treated with way way more care than in any video I have seen on youtube so far.

[Maurice841]

You are absolutely correct about methanol. What you are missing is that the issue you are mentioning can be avoided by working in a well ventilated area. I have never had an issue, but continue to be very careful.

[GrEmLiN76X]

Not to be a dick but I would have liked to have seen glasses on when working with the lye. One sneeze and ya coulda gone blind lol. Great video. The more people are able to see on great sites like YT just how easy it is, maybe the more people will get involved and bring the cost of both materials used (methanol for instance) and other fuels (gasoline, diesel fuel) down and stabilize the economy a bit more. Supply and demand. Less need for petroleum-based fuels, the cheaper it becomes.

[Maurice841]

A good point about the glasses. We wear glasses, respirators, and long gloves when handling this material. This video was made a few years ago when I started.

[ElectricBird]

So where might I find the methanol and sodium hydroxide?

[Maurice841]

Try Univar, and for the sodium hydroxide any chemical company should have it.

[madmoses59]

I saw on another video, that they heat it in the prosses? Your way seems so simple. I assume you have no problems using it?

[Maurice841]

It does heat when you mix the lye with the water before you added it to the methanol. When we prepare the lye mix we use a big water tank to absorb the heat.

[fdoca]

Wonderful video, Thanks You AAAA++++

[Cenobite321]

Is the titration process neccesary when using pure vegetable oil?

[Maurice841]

No, it will be 3.5g per liter.

[treewire]

What do you do with the glycerin waste?

[Maurice841]

I make a degreaser. Check out "making Biodiesel Part 4".  Let me know what you think.

[jiggawha44k]

are you using waste vege oil or brand new vege oil, does it even matter? so by using this formula and adding all that stuff, you can put it directly into your gas tank with no heat cables and it won't gel or cause any problems in the cold? do you need a metal tank? do you need to buy a 2000 kit still or do you only need the kit when you put vege oil straight in it?

thanks

[Maurice841]

In this particualr example, I am using used vegetable oil. Yes it matters if you are using new or used oil in only that you are going to need more lye for used oil. No metal tank os needed and yes you could put it straight into the tank provided of course it is for a diesel engine. You do not need an extra kit. At cold temperatures, I have had no issues with gelling, but viscosity does increase so flow restriction through filters has been an issue only in high biodiesel ratios.

[snorider229]

i saw on mythbusters they ran a car on used fry oil, but i dont think they did anything to it but filter it. Is that possible, and if it is, does it do any damage to your car?

[Maurice841]

It is possible and it requires the vehicle to have a heater in the system and a tank just with regular diesel. As you know, oil hardens in cold temperatures, and if the vehicle is turned off with oil in the system, the following day the injectors, fuel lines, injection pump could be plugged. With biodiesel no additional equipment is needed.

[Maurice841]

I use a 100% concentration, i.e., one ml of water for one gram of NaOH. The water used is small and it is worth the proper mixing of the lye and methanol. I use regular water.

[roundchild94]

thanks, i also saw on a motoring show that you can mix 3 parts white spirit to 97 parts diesel,and that it would work in any diesel without modification

[roundchild94]

to run a car on biodiesel, do you have to drain out all of the conventional diesel first, and will any diesel run on it

[Maurice841]

No, biodiesel and regular diesel mix and you do not have to do a single thing.

[Maurice841]

The name of my company is Transit Systems Unlimited, Inc. and beside the buses we operate, I buy Jettas and Beetle TDIs for the staff which also run on biodiesel.

[Maurice841]

It is that simple.

[Maurice841]

Lye is the name given to NaOH or KOH. Call Westco at 323-877-0077 and see if that helps you. It is very important you used the right chemicals at the correct purities. Again, titrate on pure vegetable oil to make sure you are doing it right.

[Maurice841]

I did find this out from the cleaner I developed using the excess glycerin. One day I will re do this video because there are some issues I would like to address. The message was that it is very easy to make ( 4 plus minutes)

[Maurice841]

Diesel cars do run on straight vegie oil. Mercedez cars tend to be very forgiven, but I have not tried it on my buses mostly because I can mix regular diesel with biodiesel at any ratio.

[Maurice841]

one liter

[Maurice841]

I have.

[Maurice841]

This takes a little time to explain. You will find a web site called journey to ferever that explains it very well. If it does not titrate you have oil that is high in FFAs. I suggets again to use pure oil to make sure you are doing it right.

[Maurice841]

There is the acid method, but I have not been succesful inusing that method. You have to titrate and mastering that method will insure your success so you have to try it every time. One suggestion that I did was titrading pure oil to make sure I was doing it right.

[Maurice841]

I get my NaOH from a company called WESTCO. Since this project began and other projects I have completd, I have found that there are many companies that sell chemicals some even ship.

[Maurice841]

I have not tried ethanol in my process, but I do understand that the ethanol needs to be 99.5 or the process won't go forward. You can use a mixture, but I have not done it myself so I cannot help you on that. I use 1ml for one gram and this is to mix the lye efficiently. The aqueous mixture then mixes easily with the methanol.

[Maurice841]

Titration instructions are to lenghty to explain here. Plenty of resources on the net, but if you need to add over 6.5g of NaOH per liter. STOP

Add 1 ml per gram. It does differ for KOH.

Use upside down cone to remove glycerin. NaOH solution with methanol 1 minute for one liter. Methoxide solution with oil 2 minutes per liter and let it sit for 24 hours.

[Maurice841]

If it is virgin it will work. The problem is not saturated fats, but free fatty acids. Take a look at one of my videos on how we heated our fuel. This solved our temperature problems.

[Maurice841]

Continuation.

It really is this easy. The hardest part is your titration which you are going to have to do some research on the internet. Also, not any WVO will work. Try virgin oil first in which case you only need 3.5g of NaOH

[Punkrocker3232xd]

Yeah, I just really want to make 1 liter, so I don´t know if u can right me down the ingredients and the quantity of each one please.. ty...

[Maurice841]

200 ml methanol

1 liter oil

3.5grams PLUS titration of oil of NaOH in 10ml of water

Add NaOH solution to methanol first and mix

Mix methoxide (NaOH and methanol) solution with vegetable oil for at least two hours.

Let sit overnight. Glycering will be at bottom and biodiesel at the top.

M

[vielle77]

ok thanks

[Maurice841]

Just let me know how much you are looking to produce and I will guide you as best as I can.

[Maurice841]

Waste Vegetable Oil

[Maurice841]

When you mix the lye with the water there is a lot of heat released. This is why you have to be careful. I mix the lye and water in a big water tank to keep the mixing container as cool as possible. Yes, the water (NaOH solution) is mixed in with the methanol for about an hour then that solution is mixed with the WVO for about 3.5 hours, but the amount of water is negligible (7 liters in 400 gallons of WVO). The water seperates with the glycerin and or during the multiple washes.

[Maurice841]

I have made over 80,000 gallons since I started May 2006. I am mixing 400 gallons on a daily basis and what the water does is create a concentrated aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide that mixes with methanol easier than if I was to add the sodium hydroxide directly to the methanol. I use vey little water with the NaOH so the concentration is quite high. The goal is the mixing with the methanol.

[Maurice841]

To date we have made over 50,000 gallons with just cleaning issues. In fact, since I started to use biodiesel I have not had any motor issues. We are now purchasing Jettas Turbo Diesel for employees.

[Maurice841]

It doesn't matter. You can use litres or gallons.