How long and under what conditions can waste vegetable oil be stored prior to converting into bio-diesel?

Question

I plan to accumulate waste vegetable oil from restaurants now to convert to bio-diesel at some later time. I was wondering if the cooking oil was stored too long a time would it degrade or spoil resutling in bad fuel?

Answer 1

I spoke with a booth at the Energy Round-Up.  They stated 6 months before significant biodegradation would occur.  I suppose this would be altered if it was not strained, had O2 access etc.  They said the fuel might last another 6 mo with the addition of an algalcide.

Consider the purity, amount of light and temp iin prolonging it. If it gets a little rancid, probably will be OK.

Answer 2

If it contains ANY meat fats it could easily go rancid.

The product you pickup will vary greatly from time to time and place to place (water content, solids etc). Without knowing exactly what you have on hand, no one can give you a precise time...and even what temperature you store it at will make a difference.Also it is important to find out local ordinances for storage, some areas treat it as seriously as hazardous waste or used motor oil. How much and how long you can store may be a matter of law.

It would stink to make cheap fuel and have to figure in a $1000+  fine into the equation. Do the homework.

Also, after you make your homebrew, you must still pay all roadtaxes (federal, state, local).  Personally I would just find out who I could get the WVO from and research local laws before I'd store any on site.....some areas may even require sprinkler systems (fire codes) for on site storage.

After all that, many areas limit the amount of (finished) fuel that can be stored on site, without expensive safety measures... just like storing regular, petroleum diesel.

Here's an excellent resource on biodiesel:

http://www.biodieselnow.com/

Answer 3

It depends on what you were planning to do to convert it to bio-diesel.  In general the oil can be kept for a long time.  Best to filter all solids out of it, and keep in an airtight container with only a very small air space, to reduce oxidation.

Answer 4

colder the better...in 80/90 degrees id say it will rot in a week,,,,mike sez it...if screened and cooled to 40/50 degrees...it should last many weeks even several months