Materials needed for making Bio-D

[Ford_Forgotton]

Bio-D is pretty easy to make. Just mix lye, methanol and oil together in the right amounts. shake and serve.

However, getting those materials can sometimes be difficult.

LYE: Is easily obtained at your local grocery store. Under the brand name Red Devil Drain Cleaner. Its 100% lye in a powdered form. Always keep it capped when not using. Lye will absorb water and will reduce its effectiveness.

Methanol: You need the purest form of methanol you can buy. 99.5% is ideal. Many racetracks sell Methanol as racecar fuel. Check with them first. If you cannot find a local racetrack that can sell you Methanol, you can order it online from VP Racing. Shop around tho, price does vary. In a pinch, HEAT brand gasoline dryer can be used. It is about 97-98 percent Methanol with about 1-2% "trade secret" additives. If you have distilling equipment, you can actually distill HEAT down to just the methanol and leave the "other" stuff behind. HEAT is not a good idea for mass production. Too expensive. Methanol attracts water. Buy only what you need and keep it covered to keep the water out. It will absorb it from the air quickly.

Oil: Oil has a limited life span in restaraunts. After so many hours of cooking, the oil will start to taint the food its cooking and the restaurant will change it out. The better the restaraunt, the sooner they change it. Cheap places try to get every meal out of their oil and it will be darker and more used than a nicer joint. Try and scope out the local grease joints and hit up the guys who change their oil sooner/more often. It will make production easier on you, and require less of your chemicals to get a good batch.

Containers: Any plastic jug that has the #2 inside the recycle plastic triangle symbol is safe for making Bio-D in. Size your jugs based on your quantities you intend to brew. Chemistry glass and cooking glass can also be used. Make sure it is heat safe, such as Pyrex. Once the chemicals have touched your equipment, NEVER use your equipment for food again!

Gram Scale: Is needed to measure the Lye. These are readily available on ebay for around 20 bucks. Try and find one that is accurate to within .01 of a gram, and not the cheaper .1 digital scales. They should also include a caibrating weight. If your only messing around with 1 to 10 gallon batches, you shouldnt need more than a 50-100 gram scale.

Liquid Measuring containers: Again, available on Ebay for pretty cheap if you dont have a local chemistry supply store. Purchase based on your quantities you intend to produce. 1000ml graduated cylinders are a good starting size for small batch beginners. As you work your way up to multi gallon batches, gallon buckets can be used. Start small though.

Thats pretty much the absolute bare minimum of items needed to start making you own Bio-D. Once you have all those items, and the needed safety gear such as glasses, gloves, and apron. Your off to the races!

[mannytranny]

Also, as you make bigger batches, you can relax on accurate measuring.

So if you are frustrated with trying to measuer the lye, or the methanol, just make a bigger batch!

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[higgins]

I was just reading some stuff and it appears you need to heat this stuff to make it operate properly with the fuel pump, what kind of mods are necessary to the vehicle the BD is going to be used in and are those mods feasible on newer model diesels...........hig

[Ford_Forgotton]

Hig,

There are two types of fuel using fryer oil. BioDiesel is fryer oil that has been converted by the process of Transesterification using the chemicals above.

NO CHANGES need to be made to the vehicle in order to run Bio-D.

The second form is just running pure, unprocesses, filtered vegetable oil. either new or used. This is known as SVO or WVO (straight veg oil, and waste veg oil).

Running SVO/WVO requires you to install a seperate fuel tank and heater system to warm the oil up so as to not congeal in the fuel lines.

BIO-D is no mess, no fuss, pour and drive.

SVO/WVO requires mods to the vehicle, and switching BACK to diesel before shutting down the vehicle to prevent the oil from plugging the lines when it cools.

[mannytranny]

^ what he said.

After you do the reaction when you make biodiesel, the BD part is much thinner than WVO/SVO. Maybe just a teeney bit thicker than petrol diesel; thus the increased lubricity.

I was talking to someone from the TDIclub that has made and run homemade (unwashed) biodiesel in his TDI for 30k miles. He had a sensor go out in his fuel pump, and had to open the pump to replace the sensor. He had a Bosch shop do it, and they said that they have never seen a pump with such little wear on it.

[mannytranny]

One more thing.

If you plan to run anymore than a 75/25 bio to diesel mix in an older car, you would need to have the fuel lines changed.

Viton? hoses were used in all cars after 95 or so. They are safe for 100% BD.

[wellrooted]

Just a hint--get your lye from a soap making supply place or a chemical supply place in larger quantities and it will be MUCH cheaper than the red devil stuff--like a buck a pound.

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[jdkline]

If I go through with making the bigger batches, I will try to find a cheaper source of lye or KOH, which can also be used. I was really afraid of the nasty chemicals, but with caution, they can be used safely, and the product is effective and beautiful.