Been wanting to do bio for my truck for years but i have 2 problems right now.... lack of funds for setup and finding a reliable source of wvo...

somewhere i do(or at least did) have plans for a water heater based bio processor......

my next problem is the chemistry portion of it....i do not even know where to start....

 

Before anything, start by looking around your area for your source of wvo. Restaurants are usually the primary source for most people. If you're truly serious about making biodiesel, then go ahead and make arrangements with these places, and start collecting oil. That, in and of itself is a process you'll need to learn anyway. Without it, you're not going anywhere so there's no need, as of yet, to begin anything else.

After that, you can start by doing a ton of reading here: http://www.make-biodiesel.org/ it has absolutely everything you will need to know about building a processor, making and testing your biodiesel, etc.

I've been producing biodiesel for a bit over ten years now, and have successfully logged over 100k miles on it, between all the diesel Mercedes' I've owned and my 2001 F250 PSD. Saving money is what started me on it, but honestly, today, it's probably the last reason I make it, even though raw material cost is less than a 1$/gallon. It's a major commitment of time and space.

Read up on the link above, and if you have any other questions you can come here. Best of luck to you!

 

Just an FYI in regards to "making" and storing your bio-fuel...…. it's illegal as one can get...and this is federal law and it's because just like making your own gasoline, there are similar type hazards (including static safety) that is completely ignored in every "do-it-yourself" kit on the market. The penalties are severe even for equipment making possession and for good reason as well.

Bi-fuels are great..... making it yourself, not a "good thing"

 

With regards to it being illegal I know making the ethanol portion is illegal due to regulations on bootlegging and what not and untaxed liquor. However I have never read anywhere about making biodiesel being illegal

 

Ok.....To start with, when you collect, store any product that is combustible, flammable or poses a potential environmental effect in quantities of 30 gallons or more, you are required to have a secondary containment system, spill control and a permit, issued by local, state or federal epa or public health agency (local). This is required under both the CERCLA, the international fire code (adopted by local and state agencies) Article 79 and 80, and permit is required by Article 4.

You must also purchase caustics (sodium hydroxide aka Lye) and alcohol (or a derivative such as methanol) to distill the product....a permit is also required for any purchase of sodium hydroxide or methanol, mixing, dispensing and distillation process (since you have to heat the mixed product to well over 100 degrees- well past the ignition point of the product- same codes all apply. These same codes also require you to have Class I, division 1 or 2 electrical wiring for any inside mixing, storage and dispensing. Why, as an example, if lye comes in contact with aluminum, hydrogen gas is produced, if hydrogen gas (a flammable, used in the Hindenburg) comes into contact with any ignition source (including heat, static charge from rubbing your hair) at minimum you are looking at a flash fire, at worst case, an explosion. Even inhaling minor, the smallest particulates of lye damages the lungs, eventually creating a chemical induced pneumonia- to which there is no cure or treatment. If you think a respirator will take care of that exposure, oops again, your pupils of your eyes and ear drums are direct depositories into the blood stream- absorbing those particulates into the blood stream and transporting them to your liver, kidneys, bladder attempting to be filtered (but not) and re-distributed through the metabolic systems including the bone & bone marrow- where a host of results will (not if) occur…of which cancer would be your least concern…..but it does take 10-30 years for those effects to show…even with the best laboratory equipment.
As you pour one liquid into another container, you are creating “static charge” by the mere action of the liquid. Without proper, verified bonding & grounding, the re-routing/reverse of a single static charge will result in a fire or explosion (if it reaches a container)- this evens happens in cars when due to a design flaw (such as in the 1990’s) when GM experienced 2 fuel tank fires in their 2 newest “high mpg” cars because a single static charge was generated during re-fueling, the charge exited the vehicle tank but the newly designed low resistance tires prohibited the charge from “finding the ground” and returned to the vehicles fuel tank. Back in the 70’s (IIRR), the USAF also experience this with a 747 in Texas, causing a fire in one fuel tank and explosion in the center fuel tank which was almost empty.

While it is not illegal in most states to sell the equipment to make the product, it is illegal for anyone to sell the caustics & methanol to you in the quantity required for this process without a business license and other permits- including for transportation (under the Federal code of regulation, part 40 & 49). if you are reported by anyone, they will receive a 10% reward from the national "We-Tip" program- the average (total collected fine and investigation) fine for a "small business" is $1 million dollars, the average clean-up including disposal, assessment and temp permits is $2 million...and this can be instituted by any environmental, public health, fire department, law enforcement agency, district attorney and any local, state or federal agency.

While many will chime in that there's nothing wrong in doing this, or I don't know what I am talking about, check out Tuscan AZ, 2002 the feds came in and arrested a homeowner not for making bio-diesel, but because of the process, they went to jail for child endangerment (seems they had a little fire- I don't recall if it was related to the bio-diesel or not), but the local gov did the reports, the state & feds choose to clean the mess up and prosecute and fine and take everything the guys homeowners insurance would handle...then guess what, although the judge ordered restitution and reduced the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, he can’t get homeowners insurance...from any company. It's really not worth it.

 

It's one of those "gotcha" kinda things where there may be no law specifically stating you're not allowed to make biofuel, but you may be required to have certain safeties and permits to do it legally because of the other things involved. Beechkid presented a scary reason for not making it, but I'd like to see proof that anyone's been convicted of a crime for doing it.

I run wmo, no processing, just filtering so it's a totally different deal. There's rarely more than a 5 gallon bucket of it sitting around so no major storage issues.

 

I don't thing ethanol is used for biofuel, only methanol.

 

^^^This is correct. Methanol is used to make the methoxide for reacting the vegetable oil to make biodiesel. Ethyl alcohol however, is used in the titration process to measure the free fatty acid content of the vegetable oil. This done to determine the quantity of catalyst needed to convert the oil.

 

 

 

This is beyond saying....Completely, absolutely, not true"....this I federal law...…………….

 

 

Someone mentioned distilling earlier; know that distilling anything, even just owning a still, is illegal in some states without a permit. Getting a fuel distilling permit from the feds is cheap & easy, but you still have to consider local laws. Some states allow distilling spirits for personal use, but it would still be a federal issue without a liquor distiller's permit which is not cheap & easy.

 

I noticed that someone mentioned distilling earlier in this thread. I'm not sure what it was in reference to but there is no "distilling" in the biodiesel making process. When I was making it the hottest the oil ever got was roughly 100 - 120 degrees prior to pumping it into the processing chamber. As for the methanol and lye, my local fuel supplier delivered to my driveway and I could still get the lye at the local Ace store. I only needed a pound or two and they still sold the lye drain cleaner so it was really that easy. I stopped making it because the processor took up way too much space in my garage and was replaced with a metal lathe. All in all it really was kind fun and really not that difficult but the whole process of collection, storage, and processing was time consuming.

 

Yeah, I was wondering about the relevance here too. There's no distilling involved in the making of biodiesel.

Yep. I heat the vegetable oil to 130F when I process batches. Once the methoxide is dosed in, the heat generated from that carries the batch for the rest of the 2 hours.