How to Make Homemade Bio Diesel
- 1). Put on your safety gloves and goggles. Measure 3.5 g of the lye into a lightweight plastic bag and place it on the scale. Securely close the plastic bag, making sure that there is no air in it. Wrap the bag with duct tape to ensure that it's air tight.
- 2). Measure out 200 ml of methanol. Using the funnel, pour the methanol into the half-liter HDPE container.
- 3). Add the lye to the HDPE container using the other funnel. Replace the bung and screw on the cap tightly. Swirl the container around. The idea is to completely dissolve the lye in the methanol, which forms sodium methoxide. Swirl until the liquid is clear and free of lye particles.
- 4). Heat the canola oil to 130 degrees Fahrenheit using the thermometer for accuracy. Pour the oil into the blender. With the blender turned off, carefully pour in the sodium methoxide. Secure the blender's lid very tightly and on low speed, mix the oil and sodium methoxide for 30 minutes.
- 5). Pour the mixture into a clean, 2-liter soda bottle. This is where it will settle for the next 24 hours. Make sure the lid is screwed on tightly, but be aware that as the mixture cools, it will contract and you may need to let more air into the bottle as it settles.
- 6). Pour the top layer of biodiesel into a clean 2-liter bottle. A darkly colored glycerin byproduct will form in a layer at the bottom of the bottle. There will be a clean line of separation between it and the pale liquid above it, which is the actual biodiesel. If you get any of the glycerin layer mixed up with the biodiesel when attempting to pour it into a clean bottle, let it resettle and try again.
- 7). Complete the wash test to see if your biodiesel was correctly made and ready to use. The wash test should be conducted as follows: Place 150 ml of water into a 1-liter bottle that contains 150 ml of your biodiesel. Shake it up for 10 seconds, and then let the mixture set. The water should separate from the biodiesel within 30 minutes in order to pass this quality test.
- 8). Complete the methanol quality test. For this test, combine 25 ml of biodiesel with 225 ml of methanol in a glass container. The two substances should combine without any evidence of particles or major color changes. A clear layer of material floating on top is normal. This test ensures the quality of your biodiesel mixture.
