Over the last few years my family has become more and more sustainability minded.
Over the last 2 years I've been collecting all of our waste motor oil and this last few months I've been saving our waste vegetable oils. Both of which can be refined and used in some diesel engines, especially direct injection systems. the biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil (WVO) burns cleaner than petroleum based diesel and also cleans / lubricated engines to some degree. Biodiesel can also be used in inexpensive diesel burning heaters.
making biodiesel is pretty easy and the supplies you need to make it are fairly easy to get in most places.
I'll be adding some links to literature from universities on the topic. some information from people much more educated on the topic and associated science, I'll also post some pictures from 50ML test batches as I learn the ins and outs myself.
the way I See it, any waste material we might be able to repurpose into a usable resource is worth investigating.
later on I'll make a post about making "STERNO" fuel from egg shells, vinegar, and methanol (or any high proof alcohol readily available).
and if I'm feeling extra spicey maybe we can investigate making solid hexamine camp fuel later in the year.
This is a WIP post so I will be releasing and edited as I Work on it rather than saving it as a draft that I might end up forgetting.
as with a lot of my WIPS it might totally get forgotten about with everything I have going on.
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Making Biodiesel
Supplies:
Used Cooking oil
Sodium Hydroxide
Methanol
coffee filters(2>micron screens. use multiple screens in decreasing value for greatest results for engine use)
activated charcoal(super optional, bordering on totally unecessary)
vessels like a borosilicate ehrlenmeyer (can be substituted with HDPE vessels)
spray bottle (optional)
water
hot plate (no open flames)
small pot
thermometer(again, optional but this time highly recommended
adequate ventilation and applicable ppe
The basic process (to be expanded upon in greater detail later)
collect cooking oil
filter cooling oil
heat newly filtered cooking oil to apx 140f - 60c (it should be really warm to the touch but not scolding hot. A thermometer is highly recommended but not totally necessary.
!CAUTION!
(this step can create noxious fumes and should be done in a well ventilated area or at minimum a decent respirator
make your methoxide by combining your sodium hydroxide to your methanol. i used .25g to 50ml methanol if I recall right. I'll try and share the literature I got all my information from at some-point during the completion of my WIP so that nexians can make their own educated decisions as it pertains to the topic with information from people of higher education than myself.
add your methoxide to your cooking oil in a large vessel to start the reaction. the oil should be heated to 60C / 140F before the addition and during the reaction.
if you take the oil off of the hot plate during the reaction it will remain warm for some time but I suspect that it could lead to incomplete reactions shown by the fact that I got dramatically more soap material than I expected by doing so. to the point that it still seems to be falling out.
stir the vessel for 30+ minutes. you can do this on a magnetic stir plate, with a mixing paddle on a drill , with a wooden dowel. get creative. WEAR PPE.
allow the mixture to sit and separate into 2 well defined phases.
by this point you should have 2 well defined phases in your reaction vessel. semi-clear yellow crude biodiesel on top and reddish brown vegetable glycerin/glycerine/glycerol on bottom.
separate the glycerine/glycerol into a different vessel for later refinement and usage (it is a byproduct not needed for the biodiesel production)
after you remove the glycerine reheat the newly formed biodiesel. you want it warm but not HOT. this could be done by leaving it outside in the sun on a hot summer day for example. this step makes it easier to prevent an emulsion in the next steps.
*****at this point the diesel can ignite under the right condittions i.e. if it gets HOT it could be lit. this is a feature not a flaw of the fuel itself. be mindful that there are no ignition sources nearby when working from this step forward and make sure you have emergency supplies such as fire extinguishers or a safe area to work outside.
The biodiesel still has residual soaps inside of it which is why it has a semi opaque white hue to it. to use it in engines it should be water washed as mentioned below to help remove the soap byproduct from the reaction.
this wash will include adding warm water to the warmed oil and allowing the soaps to crash out onto a secondary phase as an opaque white solid material floating in a phase below the diesel.
if an emulsion forms salt and heat can be added to expedite the phase sepperation but I'm not totally sure how it would affect the salinity of the diesel at this point so proceed with caution there. for make shift oil burners it's probably fine to burn the diesel washed or unwashed with appropriate ventilation although I think the unwashed diesel will burn dirtier.
you want to gently stir during this stage, no aggressive motions or you risk creating a water in oil aka W/O emulsion that I can only seem to break via saline and heat.
if you want to wash the soaps out then you continue to wash it and fraction the diesel off until you get nothing but diesel floating on crystal clear water.
pictures and links to be added... when ever I Remember this WIP through the mountain of other things I'm actively working on.
hopefully this helps someone. cave your oil through the year and prepare just right and you could make some emergency heating fuel as needed on demand. i don't think it would last super long unless you prepare in bulk BUT something like diesel which burns longer and slower and "larger" than say naptha could be helpful in terms of getting a larger wood fire started so long as you have something like a torch available to heat and ignite the diesel.
stay safe, create plans for storage and safe usage as well as an emergency protocol should something go wrong . fire and liquird fuels are exceptionally dangerous and unforgiving. I can't be there to help put your home fire out if you do something you shouldn't so, work slow and work smart.
I think its best to make this "as needed" just before things like serious weather events rather than trying to store it in the garage long term.
biodiesel also needs biocides to prevent bacteria formulation longterm as well which just undermines it's price accessibility that much more.
best of luck friends
Over the last 2 years I've been collecting all of our waste motor oil and this last few months I've been saving our waste vegetable oils. Both of which can be refined and used in some diesel engines, especially direct injection systems. the biodiesel made from waste vegetable oil (WVO) burns cleaner than petroleum based diesel and also cleans / lubricated engines to some degree. Biodiesel can also be used in inexpensive diesel burning heaters.
making biodiesel is pretty easy and the supplies you need to make it are fairly easy to get in most places.
I'll be adding some links to literature from universities on the topic. some information from people much more educated on the topic and associated science, I'll also post some pictures from 50ML test batches as I learn the ins and outs myself.
the way I See it, any waste material we might be able to repurpose into a usable resource is worth investigating.
later on I'll make a post about making "STERNO" fuel from egg shells, vinegar, and methanol (or any high proof alcohol readily available).
and if I'm feeling extra spicey maybe we can investigate making solid hexamine camp fuel later in the year.
This is a WIP post so I will be releasing and edited as I Work on it rather than saving it as a draft that I might end up forgetting.
as with a lot of my WIPS it might totally get forgotten about with everything I have going on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Making Biodiesel
Supplies:
Used Cooking oil
Sodium Hydroxide
Methanol
coffee filters(2>micron screens. use multiple screens in decreasing value for greatest results for engine use)
activated charcoal(super optional, bordering on totally unecessary)
vessels like a borosilicate ehrlenmeyer (can be substituted with HDPE vessels)
spray bottle (optional)
water
hot plate (no open flames)
small pot
thermometer(again, optional but this time highly recommended
adequate ventilation and applicable ppe
The basic process (to be expanded upon in greater detail later)
collect cooking oil
filter cooling oil
heat newly filtered cooking oil to apx 140f - 60c (it should be really warm to the touch but not scolding hot. A thermometer is highly recommended but not totally necessary.
!CAUTION!
(this step can create noxious fumes and should be done in a well ventilated area or at minimum a decent respirator
make your methoxide by combining your sodium hydroxide to your methanol. i used .25g to 50ml methanol if I recall right. I'll try and share the literature I got all my information from at some-point during the completion of my WIP so that nexians can make their own educated decisions as it pertains to the topic with information from people of higher education than myself.
add your methoxide to your cooking oil in a large vessel to start the reaction. the oil should be heated to 60C / 140F before the addition and during the reaction.
if you take the oil off of the hot plate during the reaction it will remain warm for some time but I suspect that it could lead to incomplete reactions shown by the fact that I got dramatically more soap material than I expected by doing so. to the point that it still seems to be falling out.
stir the vessel for 30+ minutes. you can do this on a magnetic stir plate, with a mixing paddle on a drill , with a wooden dowel. get creative. WEAR PPE.
allow the mixture to sit and separate into 2 well defined phases.
by this point you should have 2 well defined phases in your reaction vessel. semi-clear yellow crude biodiesel on top and reddish brown vegetable glycerin/glycerine/glycerol on bottom.
separate the glycerine/glycerol into a different vessel for later refinement and usage (it is a byproduct not needed for the biodiesel production)
after you remove the glycerine reheat the newly formed biodiesel. you want it warm but not HOT. this could be done by leaving it outside in the sun on a hot summer day for example. this step makes it easier to prevent an emulsion in the next steps.
*****at this point the diesel can ignite under the right condittions i.e. if it gets HOT it could be lit. this is a feature not a flaw of the fuel itself. be mindful that there are no ignition sources nearby when working from this step forward and make sure you have emergency supplies such as fire extinguishers or a safe area to work outside.
The biodiesel still has residual soaps inside of it which is why it has a semi opaque white hue to it. to use it in engines it should be water washed as mentioned below to help remove the soap byproduct from the reaction.
this wash will include adding warm water to the warmed oil and allowing the soaps to crash out onto a secondary phase as an opaque white solid material floating in a phase below the diesel.
if an emulsion forms salt and heat can be added to expedite the phase sepperation but I'm not totally sure how it would affect the salinity of the diesel at this point so proceed with caution there. for make shift oil burners it's probably fine to burn the diesel washed or unwashed with appropriate ventilation although I think the unwashed diesel will burn dirtier.
you want to gently stir during this stage, no aggressive motions or you risk creating a water in oil aka W/O emulsion that I can only seem to break via saline and heat.
if you want to wash the soaps out then you continue to wash it and fraction the diesel off until you get nothing but diesel floating on crystal clear water.
pictures and links to be added... when ever I Remember this WIP through the mountain of other things I'm actively working on.
hopefully this helps someone. cave your oil through the year and prepare just right and you could make some emergency heating fuel as needed on demand. i don't think it would last super long unless you prepare in bulk BUT something like diesel which burns longer and slower and "larger" than say naptha could be helpful in terms of getting a larger wood fire started so long as you have something like a torch available to heat and ignite the diesel.
stay safe, create plans for storage and safe usage as well as an emergency protocol should something go wrong . fire and liquird fuels are exceptionally dangerous and unforgiving. I can't be there to help put your home fire out if you do something you shouldn't so, work slow and work smart.
I think its best to make this "as needed" just before things like serious weather events rather than trying to store it in the garage long term.
biodiesel also needs biocides to prevent bacteria formulation longterm as well which just undermines it's price accessibility that much more.
best of luck friends
