Making the Clean Fuel: Biodiesel Equipment List
May 6, 2008
People who want to use biodiesel as their fuel need the right equipment to turn plant oils or animal fats into biodiesel. Because of its environment-friendly nature and its usefulness, people are starting to shift to this fuel for use in their homes, their cars, and their farms. Different equipment is needed to produce biodiesel depending on how much of the fuel a person wants to make.
If you want to produce only a small amount of biodiesel, then a simple equipment set can be used. A simple way to obtain the equipment is through buying biodiesel kits from dealers.
Transesterification is the process of purifying animal fats or oils by them it react with alcohol through catalysts such as sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Plant oils are the easiest to make biodiesel. A person can use plant oils from corn, rapeseed, palm, sunflower, peanut, soybean or canola. Methoxide is formed by mixing together the catalyst and an alcohol, which can either be ethanol or methanol. When methoxide is mixed with the plant oils for a period of time, esters are obtained. These esters compose biodiesel.
A small amount of biodiesel can be made in a backyard or garage. However, if a person wants to make the fuel at home, he or she should be very careful when handling chemicals that could be dangerous and even fatal. The catalyst sodium hydroxide can severely burn the skin. Methanol is also dangerous and can cause blindness. These substances should be handled very carefully. These chemicals should be placed only in polyethylene, polypropylene, glass or stainless steel containers.
The following are some of the other tools that are required to produce the fuel at home:
Graduated beakers, funnels and scales to accurately weigh the substances
A heater to heat the mixture
A reactor vessel where the chemicals are mixed together
A pH indicator for the catalyst, such as an electronic pH indicator, a chemical indicator solution or a litmus paper
A syringe or dropper.
A pH indicator, such as a litmus paper, an electronic pH indicator, or a chemical indicator solution.
A dry, sealed storage container for the fuel. Steel drums or tanks should be used for large amounts.
Water to wash the biodiesel after the transesterification process.
For larger quantities of the fuel, a different set of equipment is required. Here are some of the tools you need:
A touchless processor, a more complicated type of processor than a manual one.
Hydronic, electric or flame heat to heat the mixture.
Electric, hydronic or flame heat.
A touchless processor, which is a more complex and complicated type of processor than a manual one.
The Web is a great resource for anything related to biodiesel. Almost everything you need to produce and use the fuel is available on the Internet. You can find a lot of resources online, like instruction manuals. There are even personal guides and experts that can help you build your own biodiesel farm. The production of this renewable fuel is becoming a very profitable clean and green business.
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