Easily Comprehensible Biodiesel Production
In today's economy, fuel is a major concern. Our society is completely dependent on petroleum for heating, transportation, and other petroleum products. But, petroleum is non-renewable and it is depleting gradually. Thankfully, there is a way to overcome this serious issue and that is, biodiesel production.
It is widely known that biodiesel is safe and biodegradable. It significantly reduces serious air pollutants which is very good for the environment. Producing biodiesel can save your money and make your engine run better, cleaner, and longer. Moreover, you can even earn money if you produce biodiesel for sale as a business.
You too can avail the benefits of biodiesel fuel, if you produce it at home. Its production process is easily understandable and is explained in the following paragraphs.
There are three basic methods to produce biodiesel from oils and fats. These include: direct acid catalyzed and base catalyzed transesterification of the oil and transformation of the oil to its fatty acids and after that to biodiesel. Most of the biodiesel produced these days is done with the base catalyzed method. In this method following steps are involved: Mix the alcohol and catalyst, which is usually sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. This catalyst gets dissolved in the alcohol by using a standard mixer. Then reaction takes place when the above stated mix is charged into a closed reaction container and the oil is added. You need to use a closed container to prevent the loss of alcohol. Keep the reaction mix just above the boiling point of the alcohol, that is, at 160 °F to accelerate the reaction. Once the reaction gets completed, two main products exist- biodiesel and glycerin. Each has a large amount of the methanol that was used during the reaction. In this step you neutralize the reacted mixture, if need arises. The glycerin and biodiesel gets separated when glycerin simply sinks in the settling vessel. You can also use a centrifuge to quickly separate the two materials. When the glycerin and biodiesel get separated, you need to remove excess alcohol from these two materials. Alcohol is removed with distillation or flash evaporation process. When you neutralize glycerin, you get crude glycerin which can further be converted into its pure form by removal of water and alcohol. Both crude and pure glycerins are used for several purposes. To get the real fuel you have to purify the biodiesel. This purification process is also known as methyl ester wash. You can do this by washing the biodiesel gently with warm water to remove any residue. With methyl ester wash, the biodiesel production process comes to an end. And thus, you are left with pure biodiesel fuel, which is a clear amber-yellow fluid with a viscosity akin to petrodiesel.
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