BIODIESEL

WHAT IS BIODIESEL ?
Biodiesel (or biofuel) is the name for a variety of ester-based fuels (fatty
esters) generally defined as the monoalkyl esters made from vegetable
oils, such as soybean oil, canola or hemp oil, or sometimes from animal
fats through a simple transesterification process. This renewable source
is as efficient as petroleum diesel in powering unmodified diesel engine.

HISTORY
The concept of using vegetal oil as an engine fuel likely dates when
Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913) developed the first engine to run on peanut
oil, as he demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900.
Unfortunately, R. Diesel died 1913 before his vision of a vegetable oil
powered engine was fully realized.

Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Diesel firmly believed the utilization of a biomass fuel to be the

real future of his engine. He wanted to provide farmers the opportunity
to produce their own fuel. In 1911, he said "The diesel engine can be
fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development
of agriculture of the countries which use it".
How to Make Biodiesel Fuel - An
Overview
From the What is Biodiesel section we know that the process of making
biodiesel is known as transesterification and is achieved by adding
methanol to vegetable oil. The process requires a catalyst to increase the
rate of the chemical reaction between the methanol and vegetable oil. The
catalyst used in the creation of biodiesel is an alkaline one, either Sodium
Hydroxide or Potassium Hydroxide.

When the process is complete the catalyst can be recovered unaffected by

the chemical reaction that it accelerated, along with the glycerol separated
from the vegetable oil.

If waste vegetable oil is used then we have another situation to deal with.
Waste vegetable oil will have been been reheated several times during the
course of its usage. The reheating will cause some of the fatty acids
bonded to the glycerol to break away and float freely in the vegetable oil -
hence the name Free Fatty Acid (FFA). There are two ways of dealing
with free fatty acids:

1. Esterify the FFAs creating methyl esters then proceeding

with the transesterification.
2. Increase the amount of catalyst in the single
transesterifaction process so that the additional catalyst
neutralises the FFAs creating soap as an additional by-product.
Option 1 is used in the commercial production of biodiesel, but for smaller
scale production option 2 is favoured as it reduces the complexity of the
process. Following option 2, we would have to perform a titration on a
sample of the waste vegetable oil in order to calculate the amount of
additional catalyst required to neutralise the FFAs.

The additional catalyst would then react with the FFAs creating soap in the
process.

Transesterification is a reversible reaction. This means that the process is

working both ways simultaneously until a balance between the vegetable
oil and biodiesel is reached. Consequently we need to ensure that the
process continues the creation of biodiesel rather than stall once it reaches
this point of equilibrium.

In commercial production we would tap off the output as it is created thus

ensuring that there is a greater quantity of input vegetable oil to keep the
reaction producing the biodiesel. For smaller scale production, however, it
is more practical to use an increased volume of methanol to ensure that
the reaction continues in the direction of producing biodiesel.

Like the catalyst, this excess methanol will be left over after completion of
the reaction.
Step by Step from the Top
The commencement of the production process depends upon the type of
oil employed, and whether it is fresh oil or used oils from the catering
industry. In the case of the latter, a titration process takes place, the result
of which determines the proportions of methanol to sodium hydroxide used
in the preparation of the reaction catalyst. (Inadequate or omitted titration
on used vegetable oil is the single biggest cause of fatty deposits in fuel
filters).

There are then the following steps in the process of producing the
biodiesel:

1. Filtration of inbound waste oil

2. Drying the fuel (i.e. removing water content, especially in
the case of used oils)
3. Transesterification (specifically, the separation of the
methyl esters from the glycerol)
4. Settling period
5. Separation of the biodiesel fuel from the glycerine layer
[containing glycerol, catalyst, soap and methanol]
6. Washing the biodiesel fuel
7. Filtration to 5 microns
8. Drying the fuel again
9. Final products of biodiesel fuel and the by-products

Biodiesel is an environmentally benign fuel that is highly desirable for sustainable

development of mankind. It is usually synthesized from triglyceride (TG) sources (e.g.
vegetable oils, animal fats, and waste greases). Oils and fats belong to an ample family
of the so-called lipids that are commonly found in plants and animals, respectively.
These chemicals are primarily formed of TG molecules, and each TG molecule is
basically a triester of glycerol (a triol) and three fatty acids (long alkyl chain carboxylic
acids). Mono- and di-glycerides can be obtained from TGs by substituting two and one
fatty acid moieties with hydroxyl groups, respectively. Lipid feedstocks used in biodiesel
production may contain a mixture of all these glyceride species together with some free
fatty acids (FFAs). The chemical transformation of lipid feedstocks to biodiesel involves
the transesterification of glyceride species with alcohols to alkyl esters. At present,
alkaline bases (e.g. NaOH, KOH, CH 3ONa or CH 3OK) are used to catalyze this
reaction, in which the basic catalysts require anhydrous conditions and feedstock should
be low in FFAs content. In other words, the currently employed base catalysts cannot
effectively catalyze the transesterification of feedstocks containing high levels of FFAs.
Strong liquid acid (e.g. H 2SO 4, HCl or H 3PO 4) catalysts show tolerance to FFAs but
they catalyze the transesterification reaction very slowly (Meher et al., 2006; Demirbas,
2005 & 2007). Among the solid catalysts used are ion-exchange resins (e.g. Amberlyst-
15), B 2O 3/ZrO 2, sulfated SnO 2, zeolites, as well as hafnium and zirconium salts. It was
reported that the hydrated zirconia showed good activity and selectivity in FFAs
esterification (Lotero et al., 2005). Despite superacidic sulfated zirconia (SO 4 2 -/ZrO 2)
(Yadv and Nair, 1999) and tin oxide (SO 4 2 -/SnO 2) (Furuta et al., 2004) are effective for
esterification of fatty acid with alcohol below 150 °C, the catalysts deactivate due to
sulfate leaching (Omota et al., 2003). Furuta et al. (2006) tested amorphous ZrO 2 doped
with WO 3, TiO 2, Al 2O 3, and K 2O in a fixed-bed reactor for the transesterification of
soybean at 250 oC as well as the esterification of n-octanoic acid at 175-200 oC, and
observed > 95% conversion over the Ti- and Al-doped catalysts. It is known that CaO
with basic sites stronger than H_ = 26.5 is an effective solid superbase catalyst
(Peterson and Scarrah, 1984; Ono, 2003; Kabashima and Hattor, 1998; Schächter and
Pines, 1968). Reddy et al. (2006) produced biodiesel from soybean oil using nano-sized
CaO at room temperature, but the reaction rate was low and the catalyst deactivated
after eight cycles. Zhu et al. (2006) obtained a 93% conversion of jatropha curcas oil
over CaO, but the catalyst must be treated with a (NH 4) 2CO 3 solution and calcined at
high temperature (900 oC).

Conversion of Soybean Oil to

Biodiesel Fuel with Immobilized
Candida Lipase on Textile Cloth
Abstract
The characteristic of biodiesel fuel production from transesterification of soybean
oil is studied. The reactant solution is the mixture of soybean oil, methanol, and
solvent. A new lipase immobilization method, textile cloth immobilization, was
developed in this study. Immobilized Candida lipase sp. 99-125 was applied as
the enzyme catalyst. The effect of flow rate of reaction liquid, solvents, reaction
time, and water content on the biodiesel yield is investigated. Products analysis
shows that the main components in biodiesel are methyl sterate, methyl
hexadecanoate, methyl oleate, methyl linoleate, and methyl linolenate. The test
results indicate that the maximum yield of biodiesel of 92% was obtained at the
conditions of hexane being the solvent, water content being 20 wt%, and reaction
time being 24 h.
ABSTRACT: Biodiesel consists of long-chain fatty acid esters,
derived from renewable sources such as
vegetable oils, and its utilization is associated to the
substitution of the diesel oil in engines. Depending on
the raw material, biodiesel can contain more or less
unsaturated fatty acids in its composition, which are
susceptible to oxidation reactions accelerated by exposition
to oxygen and high temperatures, being able to
change into polymerized compounds. The objective of this
work was to determine the oxidative stability of
biodiesel produced by ethanolysis of neutralized, refined,
soybean frying oil waste, and partially hydrogenated
soybean frying oil waste. The evaluation was conducted by
means of the Rancimatequipment, at temperatures
of 100 and 105ºC, with an air flow of 20 L h-1. The fatty acid
composition was determined by GC and the
iodine value was calculated. It was observed that even
though the neutralized, refined and waste frying
soybean oils presented close comparable iodine values,
biodiesel presented different oxidative stabilities.
The biodiesel from neutralized soybean oil presented greater
stability, followed by the refined and the frying
waste. Due to the natural antioxidants in its composition, the
neutralized soybean oil promoted a larger
oxidative stability of the produced biodiesel. During the
deodorization process, the vegetable oils lose part of
these antioxidants, therefore the biodiesel from refined
soybean oil presented a reduced stability. The thermal
process degrades the antioxidants, thus the biodiesel from
frying waste oil resulted in lower stability, the
same occuring with the biodiesel from partially
hydrogenated waste oil, even though having lower iodine
values than the other.
Key words: Rancimat, transesterification, oxidation

To make biodiesel fuel efficiently from used vegetable oils and animal fats we have to
avoid one major problem: soap formation. Soap is formed during base-catalyzed
transesterification (using lye) when sodium ions combine with free fatty acids present in
used (and some virgin) vegetable oils and animal fats. The soaps diminish the yield
because they bond the methyl esters to water. The bonded esters get washed out at the
washing stage but make water separation more difficult and increase water consumption.
This process takes care of the free fatty acids.

In one early test I used a mixture of 50% heavily used cooking oil and 50% pork lard.
The result was a pure product with absolutely no trace of soap! The biodiesel looked nice,
and smelt nice, as if made from virgin oil.

This is a simple procedure. The first-stage process is not transesterification, but pure and
simple ESTERIFICATION. Esterification is followed by transesterification, but under
acid conditions it's much slower than under caustic conditions and it won't do a complete
oil-to-methyl ester conversion as the reaction is much more equilibrium-sensitive.
Without methanol recovery, the alcohol overdose required would make the price of your
fuel jump, and even with recovery it would still be much more expensive. Hence the
second base-stage.

For the first stage you'll form a compound out of an acid and an alcohol. The alcohol is
still methanol, but instead of using lye (sodium hydroxide), the CATALYST in this
reaction is sulphuric acid ("battery acid"). It needs 95% sulphuric acid (battery acid is
around 50%). Sulphuric acid is one of the commonest chemicals on Earth, just like lye.
More concentrated sulphuric acid -- 98% and above -- costs more, but 95% works just
fine if you follow these directions. Other acids won't work: it must be sulphuric acid. You
can buy sulphuric acid online from Duda's Alternative Energy Store:
http://dudadiesel.com/

The second stage uses lye, as usual -- but it only uses about half as much as other
methods.

The sulfate ion in the sulphuric acid combines with the sodium ion in the lye during the
second-stage reaction to form sodium sulphate, which is a water-soluble salt and is
removed in the wash. No sulphur remains in the biodiesel fuel product.
Equipment
You don't need a special processor for the Foolproof method. Generally, a bottom-
drained reactor vessel is best, closed on top. Tall, narrow containers work better than
wide, shallow ones. Use a circulating pump for mixing rather than a mechanical stirrer.
The pump should take the mixture from near the bottom of the reactor and return it via
the top, to splash down on the surface. For a 35-litre reactor, a 100-W washing-machine
pump will do, along with a 1.5kW washing-machine immersion heater to heat the
mixture (get a heater that's coated with stainless steel). You could use a thermostat to
control the temperature, but they're expensive: just use a thermometer and switch on the
heater as required. Ordinary iron and steel implements and containers will eventually
corrode because of the acid used in this process. However, you can still use the usual 55-
gal (200-litre) drum. The proportion of acid used in this process is very low -- you should
be able to use an uncoated drum for a year or more before the rust gets out of control. I
use a polypropylene plastic reaction vessel. Any plastic that won't deform at 100 deg C
(212 deg F) or a bit more is fine. Stainless steel is also fine. Use an immersion heater with
plastic containers. With steel containers you can use propane heaters to heat the oil, then
switch to an immersion heater before adding the methanol.

The process
1. Filter the used cooking oil first as usual.

2. For a successful reaction the oil must be free of water. Here are two methods of
removing the water content:

(a) Settling the water out: This method saves energy. Heat the oil to 60 deg C (140 deg
F), maintain the temperature for 15 minutes and then pour the oil into a settling tank. Let
it settle for at least 24 hours. Make sure you never empty the settling vessel more than
90%.

(b) Boiling the water off: Less-preferred method as it uses more energy and helps to form
more FFAs in the oil. Heat the oil to 100 deg C (212 deg F). As the heat rises water
separates out and falls to the bottom -- drain it off to avoid steam explosions. Maintain
the temperature until no more steam bubbles rise.

First stage
3. Measure the volume of oil/fats to be processed (preferably in litres).

4. Heat the oil to 35 deg C (95 deg F) -- make sure that all solid fats are melted.

5. Methanol: use only 99%+ pure methanol. Measure out the methanol -- 0.08 litres of
methanol for each litre of oil/fats (8% by volume). Add the methanol to the heated oil.
6. Mix for five minutes -- the mixture will become murky because of solvent change
(methanol is a polar compound, oil is strongly non-polar; a suspension will form).

7. For each litre of oil/fats add 1 millilitre of 95% sulphuric acid (H2SO4). Use a
graduated eyedropper, a graduated syringe or a pipette. TAKE CARE when handling the
concentrated sulphuric acid!

8. Mix gently at LOW rpm (don't splash!) while keeping the temperature at 35 deg C.
The rotation of your stirrer should not exceed 500 to 600 rpm -- speed is not crucial and
splashed oil is a mess to clean.

9. Maintain the temperature at 35 deg C for one hour then stop heating. Continue stirring.
10. Stir the unheated mixture for another hour, a total of two hours, then stop mixing. Let
the mixture sit for at least eight hours, overnight is better.

11. In the meantime prepare the sodium methoxide: measure 0.12 litre of methanol for
each litre of oil/fat (12% by volume) and weigh 3.1 grams (up to 3.5 grams if purity is in
doubt) of sodium lye (sodium hydroxide, NaOH) per litre of oil/fat. Mix the lye into the
methanol until the lye is completely dissolved.

Sodium methoxide is a DANGEROUS CHEMICAL. Take full safety precautions when

working with methanol, lye and sodium methoxide, wear safety goggles, protective
gloves and clothing, have running water nearby.

NOTE: This process uses only about half the usual amount of lye as there is less fat left
to transesterify. Use 99%+ pure sodium hydroxide lye. After opening the container, close
it again as quickly as possible to prevent moisture getting in. Weigh the lye carefully --
using too much will complicate the washing process later.

12. After settling for eight hours, or the next morning, pour half of the prepared
methoxide into the unheated mixture and mix for five minutes. This will neutralize the
sulphuric acid and boost the base catalysis. If you've used solid fat, it probably solidified
during settling -- gently melt the mixture first.

Now you can continue with the normal procedure with the lye as the second stage.

Second stage
This is the base-catalyzed stage.

13. Heat the mixture to 55 deg C (131 deg F) and maintain for the whole reaction.

14. Add the second half of the prepared sodium methoxide to the heated mixture and start
mixing at the same low speed of not more than 500 to 600 rpm.

TAKE CARE when handling the sodium methoxide -- full safety precautions!
15. Optional: If your reactor allows for it, start draining glycerine by-product from the
bottom 20-25 minutes after the start of the base stage. (Pump-mixing works best for this
-- with pump or mixer, turn the motor off for a few minutes if necessary to allow the
glycerine to settle.) Repeat every 10 minutes -- take care, the glycerine is quite hot and
caustic! Set aside -- see step 18.
16. All users: Take regular samples in a 1" to 1.5" diam. glass container. Watch for a
straw yellow colour of the ester portion. Glycerine (brown and sticky) will settle at the
bottom of the jar. When this colour is reached (usually in 1.5-2.5 hours) turn the heat and
mixer off. Instead of taking out samples to check the colour you could use translucent
braided tubing for the pump.

17. Allow to settle for one hour.

18. Optional: For easier washing: Drain off the glycerine. Measure off 25% of the total
glycerine (including previously drained glycerine if you followed step 15) and mix with
10 millilitres of 10% phosphoric acid (H3PO4) for each litre of oil/fat processed. The
mixing can be done with a wooden spoon in a plastic container. Pour the acidified
glycerine back into the reactor and stir for 20 minutes, unheated. Allow to settle for at
least six hours and then drain the glycerine fraction completely.

THIS IS IT. During the first stage, free fatty acids were esterified and some triglycerids
were transesterified. The base-catalyzed stage does only transesterification, but it's much
quicker and more complete.

Washing
19. Use the bubblewash method, but no need to monitor pH anymore. Just add a little
10% phosphoric acid (H3PO4) to the washing water first, 10 millilitres per gallon (2-3
ml/litre), just to be on the safe side -- I don't want ANY lye floating around my fuel
pump.

If you are curious about the results of your wash, use ordinary litmus paper, it will tell
you the rough pH level (acidity/alkalinity). The end result should be neutral (pH7) or just
below neutral.

20. Use one-third the volume of water as the amount of biodiesel to be washed. Make
sure both the water and biodiesel are roughly the same (room) temperature. Pour your
biodiesel into the vessel with the water, throw in the aquarium stone and start the air
pump. Let it bubble for 24 hours minimum. Turn the pump off and let the mixture settle
for half an hour. The water will fall to the bottom, turning completely white, and the fuel
you made will be much lighter in colour now. Drain the water, repeat the procedure two
more times. Remove the biodiesel from the vessel, taking care not to get any water with
it. (See also Washing.)

21. Let the biodiesel stand for about three weeks and use only when it becomes crystal
clear; take a sample in a large marmalade jar and wait until it is completely cleared. Put it
on your window shelf and enjoy looking at it while it clarifies. (If you want quicker
results, heat the biodiesel to 45 deg C, 113 deg F, and let it cool.)

NOTE: A deposit may form in the bottom during settling -- don't let it get in your fuel
tank!

Quality
Diesel engines require quality fuel. You just can't pour poor-quality biodiesel into the
tank and expect the engine to go on and on without problems. You have three very
dangerous enemies: free glycerine, poorly converted oils/fats and lye. Free glycerine and
mono-, di- and triglycerids (poor ester conversion) will form gum-like deposits around
injector tips and valve heads, lye can damage the injector pump. The key to good fuel is
to just do it right and finish it! Use pure chemicals (sulphuric acid, sodium lye and
methanol) and measure them accurately, and follow the instructions carefully -- this will
take care of poor conversion. Proper washing will get rid of the glycerine and neutralize
any remaining lye.

There are also kits available for various quality tests. I was told in a letter from one of the
visitors to our site of a test used by the motor industry for determination of glycol in
motor oil. This should work for free glycerine determination.

"For glycerine analysis I suggest that you get a test kit for determining ethylene glycol in
motor oil. This test is simple and it generates a purple colour if substantial free glycerol is
present. Just analyze the biodiesel as if it were motor oil. Used-car dealers use the test to
determine if there are leaks in the cooling system. Glycol and glycerol give the same
result in the test." (With thanks to Martin Reaney)

Paper chromatography and thin layer chromatography will tell you the conversion rate,
and titration may tell you about any remaining lye.

Precauations:
Methanol can cause blindness and death, and it is absorbed through the skin. Sodium
hydroxide can cause severe burns and death. Together these two chemicals form sodium
methoxide. This is an extremely caustic chemical. These are dangerous chemicals -- treat
them as such! Always have water running nearby when working with them. The
workspace must be thoroughly ventilated. No children or pets allowed. Wear safety
goggles, gloves and apron and eye protection. Do not inhale any vapors. See Safety for
further information.
What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel made from virgin vegetable oil or used
vegetable oil. Even animal fats like beef tallow and fish oil can be used to
make biodiesel fuel. Unlike fossil fuels, biodiesel is renewable and can be
made domestically. Biodiesel may be blended with conventional diesel to
get different blends such as B2 (2% biodiesel and 98% conventional diesel)
or B20 (20% biodiesel) or it can be used as 100% biodiesel (B100).
Why is Region 9 interested in biodiesel?
Biodiesel is cleaner-burning than petroleum diesel. It reduces the emission
of harmful air pollutants-in particular asthma-causing soot. Furthermore,
when used cooking oil is recycled to produce biodiesel, billions of gallons of
waste grease can be diverted from landfills and municipal water pipes,
improving the quality of both air and water.
Are there any air quality benefits to using biodiesel?
Yes! When compared to conventional diesel, biodiesel significantly reduces
air pollution emissions of sulfur dioxide, particulate matter (soot), and
carbon dioxide.
Average Emissions of biodiesel Fuel Compared to Petroleum-
based Diesel

20%
Emission Type 100% biodiesel
biodiesel

Sulfates (SOx)
-100% -20%
causes acid rain

Particulate Matter (PM)

-50% -10%
contributes to soot

Carbon Monoxide (CO)

-50% -10%
leads to greenhouse gases

Nitrogen oxides (Nox)

+10% 0%
Forms smog
Is biodiesel toxic?
Biodiesel is non-toxic, biodegradable and creates less air pollution than
petroleum diesel. It is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades as fast as
sugar.
Why use waste cooking oil and not virgin vegetable oil?
Although both virgin oils and used cooking oils are used to make biodiesel,
used cooking oil diverts waste from landfills and sewer pipes and converts it
into an energy source. In metropolitan areas where restaurants, cafés, and
cafeterias are abundant, waste cooking oil can be harvested from restaurants
as an "urban crop" instead of using virgin soybean oil.

Biodiesel of Las Vegas

Biodiesel life-cycle (PDF) (213 pp., 1.8M)
How much waste cooking oil is out there?

Large amounts! Hotels and restaurants in the United States generate 3 billion
gallons of waste cooking oil per year. This amount could fill tanker trucks
arranged bumper-to-bumper from San Francisco to Washington D.C. and
back!

What are the current waste disposal methods for used cooking oil?
Currently, some restaurants are required to collect the grease in traps and
pay to have it hauled off by a renderer. Some of the grease is used to
supplement feed for farms; however, a lot ends up in landfills. Where grease
traps are not required, restaurants and cafes may dump their used cooking oil
down the drain where it often causes build-ups and blockages in municipal
sewer pipes.
Is biodiesel the same thing as straight vegetable oil?
No. Biodiesel is made through a process called transesterification where
vegetable oil is combined with an alcohol and a catalyst (lye) to create
biodiesel and glycerol.

Can I put biodiesel in my diesel-run car?

Yes! Any diesel car may be run on biodiesel with little to no modifications.
Adjustments may include:

Rubber hose and gasket replacement. In older cars (15 years or older) rubber
gaskets and hoses will need to be replaced, as biodiesel has a tendency to
degrade rubber.

Replacement of fuel filters. When biodiesel is first used an increase in

deposits within the engine system may occur, so more frequent replacement
of fuel filters may be necessary.

Purchase and use of American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
compliant biodiesel. ASTM compliant fuel ensures quality fuel that meets
specified alternative fuel standards.

Using Biodiesel

Normally you can use pure biodiesel or a mixture of biodiesel and

petroleum diesel as a fuel in any unmodified diesel engine. There
are two situations in which you definitely should mix biodiesel
with petroleum-based diesel.

Biodiesel is a diesel fuel that is made by reacting vegetable oil

(cooking oil) with other common chemicals. Biodiesel may be
used in any diesel automotive engine in its pure form or blended
with petroleum-based diesel. No modifications are required, and
the result is a less-expensive, renewable, clean-burning fuel.
Here's how to make biodiesel from fresh oil. You can also make
biodiesel from waste cooking oil, but that is a little more
involved, so let's start with the basics.

Materials for Making Biodiesel

 • 1 liter of new vegetable oil (e.g, canola oil, corn oil,
soybean oil)
• 3.5 grams (0.12 oz.) sodium hydroxide (also known as lye).
Sodium hydroxide is used for some drain cleaners, such as
Red Devil™ drain cleaner. The label should state that the
product contains sodium hydroxide (not calcium hypochlorite,
which is found in many other drain cleaners)
• 200 milliliters (6.8 fl. oz.) of methanol (methyl alcohol).
Heet™ fuel treatment is methanol. Be sure the label says the
product contains methanol (Isoheet™, for example, contains
isopropyl alcohol and won't work).
• blender with a low speed option. The pitcher for the blender
is to be used only for making biodiesel. You want to use one
made from glass, not plastic, since the methanol you will use
can react with plastic.
• digital scale [to accurately measure 3.5 grams (0.12 oz.)]
• glass container marked for 200 milliliters (6.8 fl. oz.). If you
don't have a beaker, measure the volume using a measuring
cup, pour it into a glass jar, then mark the fill-line on the
outside of the jar.
• glass or plastic container that is marked for 1 liter (1.1
quart)
• wide mouth glass or plastic container that will hold at least
1.5 liters (2-quart pitcher works well)

safety glasses, gloves, and probably an apron. You do not want

to get sodium hydroxide or methanol on your skin, nor do you
want to breathe the vapors from either chemical. Both chemicals
are toxic. Please read the warning labels on the containers for
these products! Methanol is readily absorbed

• If you are going to be running the engine at a temperature

lower than 55° F (13° C), you should mix biodiesel with
petroleum diesel. A 50:50 mixture will work for cold weather.
Pure biodiesel will thicken and cloud at 55° F, which could clog
your fuel line and stop your engine. Pure petroleum diesel, in
contrast, has a cloud point of -10° F (-24° C). The colder your
conditions, the higher percentage of petroleum diesel you will
want to use. Above 55° F you can use pure biodiesel without
any problem. Both types of diesel return to normal as soon as
the temperature warms above their cloud point.
 • You will want to use a mixture of 20% biodiesel with 80%
petroleum diesel (called B20) if your engine has natural
rubber seals or hoses. Pure biodiesel can degrade natural
rubber, though B20 tends not to cause problems. If you have
an older engine (which is where natural rubber parts are
found), you could replace the rubber with polymer parts and
run pure biodiesel.

Biodiesel Stability & Shelf Life

You probably don't stop to think about it, but all fuels have a
shelf life that depends on their chemical composition and storage
conditions. The chemical stability of biodiesel depends on the oil
from which it was derived. Biodiesel from oils that naturally
contain the antioxidant tocopherol or vitamin E (e.g., rapeseed
oil) remain usable longer than biodiesel from other types of
vegetable oils. According to at least one source stability is
noticeably diminished after 10 days and the fuel may be
unusable after 2 months. Temperature also affects fuel stability
in that excessive temperatures may denature the fuel.