Making bio diesel, where's the best place to go to buy cheap new/used cooking oil?

Question

I want to make bio diesel for use in my car, i was going to buy some cooking oil from somewhere like tesco or another supermarket but having looked on the website that seems to be more expensive than buying fuel from the forecourt so what are people going on about when they say you can make your own diesel cheap from buying cooking oil and processing it?

Answer 1

just thought you might be interested in this

http://www.reviewed-revealed-exposed.com...

Answer 2

Why not talk to the local restaurant owners? They have a lot of left over oil from frying and cooking. One restaurant owner I know acutally is making his own bio diesel for his car with left over cooking oil.

Answer 3

go to your local chippie or takeaway, the fuel also works better once it has ben used. make sure you filter all the gunk out though.

Answer 4

I run my Citroen ZX 1.9D on 100% waste vegetable oil.  It has been running for 18 months and 15,000 miles with no problems.. in fact the performance is better.  

I found most chip shops rarely change their oil; usually, they just top it up, and when they do change it, it is so burned, it is a poor fuel source.  My neighbour owns a "high-class" indian restaurant.  They change the oil in their deep fat fryers every week, so it's really good quality.  In sourcing used oil, I found that many restaurants and take-aways simply dispose of their oil by tipping it down the drain (which is illegal) and would be glad if someone came and took it away for them for nothing.

In the case of my neighbour, the company that delivered his new oil, took the oil oil away, but they didn't pay him anything for it and he didn't pay to have it taken away, so he was perfectly happy for me to have it instead.

After I collect the oil (about 20 litres per week) I let it settle for a week, then filter it through old denim, then I pour it straight into the tank.  I was going to produce bio-diesel and even attended a course on how to make it, but I decided that it was easier to use waste veg oil provided I could find the right car.

Answer 5

I currently run Bio Fuel (straight vegetable) in a 1999 Dodge 3500 truck. But all Cummins engines were modified from the factory to run on BioD since around 1992 without any modification.

Biofuel is recognized by both the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy as an alternative fuel, and qualifies for mandated programs under the Clean Air Act Amendments and the Environmental Protection Act of 1992 (EPAct).

USDA Clears Air with Biofuel: Buses and other diesel-burning vehicles run cleaner if they mix biofuel with regular diesel fuel, said the US Department of Agriculture at a biofuel fuel seminar at a USDA research center.

Conversely most major automotive manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, etc) recommend the use of bio fuels, and nearly every car manufacturer in the world approves ethanol blends in their warranty coverage.

In fact your probably even driving an ethanol car and didn't even know it.

The trick is finding fuel.

I've been producing biofuel for about 3 years now, it's not extremely difficult. Basically you need general household ingredients, a processor (or still for ethanol) and some used oil. Blend it, let separate, screen and use. I complied a guide a while back to help walk you threw the process step by step, just email me or check out..

http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

• 1 liter of new vegetable oil, whatever the supermarket sells as cooking oil

• 200 ml of methanol, 99+% pure

• lye catalyst -- either potassium hydroxide (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH)

• blender or mini-processor

• scales accurate to 0.1 grams, preferably less -- 0.01 grams is best

• measuring beakers for methanol and oil

• half-liter translucent white HDPE (#2 plastic) container with bung and s***w-on cap

• 2 funnels to fit the HDPE container

• 2-litre PET bottle (water or soft-drinks bottle) for settling

• two 2-litre PET bottles for washing

• duct tape

• thermometer

Use the "Methoxide the easy way" method -- it's also the safe way. Here's how to do it.

Measure out 200 ml of methanol and pour it into the half-liter HDPE container via the funnel. Methanol also absorbs water from the atmosphere so do it quickly and replace the lid of the methanol container tightly. Don't be too frightened of methanol, if you're working at ordinary room temperature and you keep it at arm's length you won't be exposed to dangerous fumes.

Carefully add the lye to the HDPE container via the second funnel. Replace the bung and the s***w on the cap tightly.

Shake the container a few times -- swirl it round rather than shaking it up and down. The mixture gets hot from the reaction. If you swirl it thoroughly for a minute or so five or six times over a period of time the lye will completely dissolve in the methanol, forming sodium methoxide or potassium methoxide. As soon as the liquid is clear with no undissolved particles you can begin the process.

The more you swirl the container the faster the lye will dissolve. With NaOH it can take from overnight to a few hours to as little as half-an-hour with lots of swirling (but don't be impatient, wait for ALL the lye to dissolve). Mixing KOH is much faster, it dissolves in the methanol more easily than NaOH and can be ready for use in 10 minutes.

Using a blender. Use a spare blender you don't need or get a cheap secondhand one -- cheap because it might not last very long, but it will get you going until you build something better.

Check that the blender seals are in good order. Make sure all parts of the blender are clean and dry and that the blender components are tightly fitted.

Pre-heat the oil to 55 deg C (130 deg F) and pour it into the blender.

With the blender still switched off, carefully pour the prepared methoxide from the HDPE container into the oil.

Secure the blender lid tightly and switch on. Lower speeds should be enough. Blend for at least 20 minutes.

Using a mini-processor. Follow the instructions below and improvise where necessary -- there are many ways of building a processor like this.

Proceed with processing as above, maintain temperature at 55 deg C (130 deg F), process for one hour.

www AGUA-LUNA com

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at  www agua-luna com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

www AGUA-LUNA com

Stop Global Warming!!!

Answer 6

bio diesel isnt simply a cooking oil recipe. Sticking any old biological fuel into your car may or may not work, but it will generally be less efficient (less speed/acceleration), could damage your engine, and more than likely wont meet the requirements that are in place for using bio fuel.

Originally, before the time of petrol stations being easily accessible, people did produce their own fuel using various forms of organic oil. however there are now numerous factors that must be taken into account, such as:

-engines are much more complex than they used to be, so a specific quality of fuel will be needed.

-co2 emission need to meet government regulations

in the link I've posted, the writer of the text concludes as follows:

"In conclusion, and based upon extensive research from many reputable organisations, the best advice is only to use REFINED base oils, preferably from reputable suppliers, and do not use plain supermarket vegetable oils, or partially refined (straight vegetable oils) or unrefined waste cooking oils in diesel engines.

Stick to refined oils from reputable large scale fuel producers (the big boys) or reputable small scale producers who will produce a product to the relevant standards, and have the quality testing procedures in place, and are willing to show their records of these quality procedures."

so there you go! Have a read of the the info in that link though, its interesting. and remember you definitely cant just use normal cooking oil, it needs mixing with a lot of other chemicals, then it needs refining, purifying, etc etc

actually, looking through that link, theres a lot to be done if you want to make bio diesel..... you have to record every batch of fuel you make by law, whether youre an individual or a massive company. you need all the right gear and equipment to properly make it. youre only allowed to make 2500 litres of the stuff each year, any more than that and you have to start paying tax on it.....

... and i read all that in one paragraph out of several pages!

Answer 7

they find a cheap supply of used cooking oil , restaurant take away or similiar , then filter it , you can add bio degradable stuff in that will rot but it has to be filtered . I am looking into it  and it is not that straightforward , some are recommending a fuel conversion kit to be fitted and a seperate tank . Do your homework , problems can arise .

Answer 8

I belive one person has already said this, but go around to fast food or formal resturants and ask if you can have the used cooking oil.  Chance are they would be thrilled to give it away, as it is a hassle to cleanly get rid of.

As for the process of actually making a fuel out of it... I wouldn't know, maybe someone else can help you out there.

Answer 9

you can go to any local fast food resturant, and they should give it to you free if you ask...theproblem they have is that they have to pay to ship it off.however if you take it from them, they dont have to pay anything

Answer 10

Make friends with your local chippy, they make about 55 (forgot the units) a week

Answer 11

Check here,

http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?i...

You will find what you like!

Good luck!