Fantastic Ideas For Preparing To Make Biodiesel Fuel
Just think of some reasons why you should consider biodiesel in your life and you’ll come up with many reasons why you should also think about learning to make homemade biodiesel. Don’t ditch your New Year’s resolution already! We surely have not forgotten that awful spike in gasoline prices a year or so ago, have we? We would all like to take more control over our lives, in any way that we can and not feel that we are slaves to forces, organisations, governments or even countries beyond our reach.
Don’t take a lesson from others around you who seem consumed by their own ideals and take individual action to help protect the world that we live in. Individuals can make a difference and as our transportation methods account for a sizeable part of greenhouse gas emissions, if (as most people) you need a vehicle to get around, consider fuelling it with biodiesel or at least a blend.
Making biodiesel is not as complicated as you might think. You need to learn about transesterification. You need to take vegetable or animal oils and fats, also known as triglycerides and extract the glycerine. A catalyst, which in this case is lye, helps to combine the remaining fatty acids to create the biodiesel.
You don’t have to spend a small fortune to set up a system allowing you to make biodiesel. Nor do you have to be a chemist or have the entire volunteer fire department on standby as you experiment! It is advised that you start out in a small way and see how you progress. At the least, you could make biodiesel fuel for the vehicles of your family and help to save money from your monthly budget.
There are certain basic chemicals required when making biodiesel fuel and these include methanol. The methanol needs to be almost pure for it to work. Although it is derived from a fossil fuel and thus contributory to global warming problems, it’s used in much lower quantities. In terms of emissions, you will definitely be making a difference versus petroleum or petro diesel. The catalyst, lye, should be protected as it can absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Look for potassium hydroxide or caustic soda and remember not to breathe the fumes or get lye on your skin, due to its caustic nature.
To start off with you can select over-the-counter canola oil or even sunflower oil. In addition to the methanol and the caustic soda you will need a blender, accurate measuring scales and receptacles, a suitably constructed container (look for the #2 designation on the underside of the container), two different funnels, a large bottle for the settling process, a separate bottle for washing and a thermometer.
You’re now ready to go, and can start testing and venturing into your new world of propulsion! With so much to gain, not only ecologically, but also financially and politically, what could be the reason – or reasons, why it’s taking such an incredibly long period of time to make this extraordinary change for the better, for all of us, not just now, but for all of the future generations which will follow as well?
Filed under General by on Sep 7th, 2010. 