Biodiesel

Again, practising what we preach, we have in the warehouse a working example of a biodiesel kit that converts used cooking oil into biodiesel which we then use to run the companies vans. Most days we have a batch going through the process so pop in and have a look.

With conversion costs currently at 16 pence a litre it makes both financial and environmental sense. Under current government legislation everyone is allowed to produce for their own use 2500 litres per year without paying duty. If you can find a source of used cooking oil then the payback is however long it takes you to use approx 1100 litres (at current prices).

The kit costs £1250 plus vat and delivery and we will help you set it up and get the first batch going. All you need is some methanol and some sodium hydroxide and off you go. Ideal for a garage or an outhouse.

The technical bit
Biodiesel is known by its chemical name "Fatty-Acid Methyl Ester". The name just means that it's a simple molecule made from vegetable oil. It is a fuel with high energy content and proper viscosity to operate reliably in all diesel vehicles and equipment.

The chemical reaction to make biodiesel is very straightforward. Vegetable oil (used or unused) is a 'triglyceride', which means three hydrocarbon chains are all attached to one glycerine molecule. It takes a certain amount of catalyst (sodium hydroxide otherwise known as caustic) to break off these hydrocarbon chains. If using used cooking oil there is a need to add even more caustic to help neutralise the "free fatty acids" that form in used cooking oil. The sodium hydroxide is dissolved into methanol (methyl alcohol) using a volume that is 20% of the oil you want to convert. This is your 'premix' solution. This is then blended vigorously with the oil to enable total conversion of the oil. The blending allows the catalyst to separate each hydrocarbon chain, one by one. They then bond with a floating methanol molecule to form biodiesel. The glycerine molecules that have been stripped away fall to the bottom of the reaction tank where they are removed. Glycerine usually represents about 10% of the total mix volume.

The Biodiesel Kit costs:
£1250 plus VAT exc. Delivery