Monday, March 2, 2009

How to Make Biodiesel At Home

By Joseph Then

Biodiesel has many benefits, but one of the most exciting things about biodiesel is that anyone can make it at home. Imagine being able to make your fuel for your vehicle or even to create energy for your home right in your garage. That would mean major savings for you.

You may think that making biodiesel is very difficult but let me tell you this; it is simpler than you think. It is always better to make your own biodiesel as there are many rewards which come with it.

Biodiesel Supplies

To make a small batch of biodiesel at home all you need are a few supplies. You need the actual ingredients to make the biodiesel - alcohol, lye and vegetable oil. You also need some supplies to mix the fuel - empty plastic bottles, duct tape, a blender and measuring cups. Be sure anything you use to make your biodiesel is only used for that purpose and never used again in the kitchen for cooking.

Once you have your supplies, all you need to do now is to get them ready and begin learning how to make biodiesel.

Safe Process

Making biodiesel is not as dangerous as you think it is. There is little risk for fire or explosion as you may expect with fuel. However, this doesn't mean that you should not protect yourself. In fact, you need to be careful or you can burn yourself. You need to be careful and realize the mixture does get hot.

In order to get the end product, biodiesel, you will have to go through a few processes- mixing the ingredients, letting it set, separating the byproduct and biodiesel and then cleaning the biodiesel. The processes will take as little as a few days to weeks to produce but it all depends on how clean the vegetable oil you use is.

Small or Large Process?

Biodiesel can be made on a small or on a large scale. Biodiesel kits come in handy if you need to make smaller scale of biodiesel. For example, if you want to use biodiesel in your lawnmower or your lawn equipment, biodiesel kit is the way to go. It is simple to use and will require a small amount of supplies.

However, if you are thinking of running it in your vehicle you would need more biodiesel. Therefore I suggest that you use a biodiesel processor. By using a biodiesel processor, it makes the process simple and faster too. You may need more supplies but it is all worth it as you will not have to wait a long time. This is because the processor will do most of the work for you. - 15437

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