Go Zero

For those of you with time to spare, an interest in tinkering and importantly a diesel engined car, this is for you.

Go Zero takes no responsibility for the content of these articles but provides them in good faith.  You should confirm the suitability of your diesel engine before using.

1.                Making BioDiesel (http://www.schnews.org.uk/)

 

There’s nothing more we like at SchNEWS towers than a spot of DIY, be it a pint of homebrew or a free party. But one piece of DIY that we reckon is up there with free parties is home made diesel.

Yep, forget about handing your hard-earned coffers over to the corrupt, greedy and killing corporations like Shell and BP, take a squeezy bottle, a piece of sticky backed plastic and make your own biodiesel. No seriously, biodiesel is a fuel made from waste vegetable oil, of which there is literally tons of the stuff being dumped in landfill sites up and down the country! This otherwise waste is easily collected from chip shops and restaurants and without too much hassle processed to make biodiesel that can be used to run any diesel engine. Biodiesel, far from being an inferior homemade product, is better for your engine than the usual crappy fossil-based fuel that is helping to screw up the environment and people’s health. Biodiesel can be made in your own backyard with little start up cost involved and works out at about 30 pence per litre. Wanna know more? Then read on.

Let’s first rewind and go back to the beginning of the 1900s where Dr Rudolf Diesel has just invented the diesel engine and is displaying it at the Paris exhibition. Sat right there is the mother of all diesel engines happily chugging away running on peanut oil! Rudolf had designed the Diesel engine to be run a variety of fuels and during his Paris speech said, "the diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and will help considerably in the development of the agriculture of the countries which use it." Sounds good for developing countries but not so good for the petroleum industry. A few years later and Rudolf Diesel’s body is found drifting face down in the English Channel . After holding secret talks with the navy about fitting diesel engines into their submarine fleet Rudolf Diesel was killed by the French to stop his diesel technology being fitted into submarines over the world, nothing new there then! After Diesel’s death the petroleum industry capitalised on the diesel engine by naming one of their crappy by-products of petroleum distillation ‘diesel fuel’. That’s how dirty diesel fuel has come to be the fuel for diesel engines.

Fast-forward to the beginning of a brave new millennium, one where oil is running out, the climate is fucked and Biodiesel can save the world, well no but it can do its bit!

 A few facts on biodiesel

Biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic. 100% biodiesel is as biodegradable as sugar and less toxic than table salt. It biodegrades up-to four times faster than petroleum diesel fuel with up-to 98% biodegradation in three weeks. However, contrary to a popular misconception, it stores indefinitely in completely full, cool, dark containers. Compared to crappy fossil fuel diesel, biodiesel has the following emissions characteristics:

• 100% reduction of net carbon dioxide
• 100% reduction of sulphur dioxide  
• 40-60% reduction of soot emissions
• 10-50% reduction of carbon monoxide

•  a reduction of all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and specifically the reduction of the following carcinogenic PAHs:

• phenanthren by 97% 

• benxofloroanthen by 56%

• benz-a-pyrene by 71%

•  aldehydes and aromatic compounds by 13%

•  5-10% reduction of nitrous oxide depending on age and tuning of vehicle.

For every one ton of fossil fuel burnt, 3 tons of CO2 is released into the atmosphere, biodiesel only releases the CO2 that it has taken in while the plants it is made from were growing, therefore there is no negative impact on the carbon cycle.

 How to build a single tank biodiesel processor

 Equipment required

•  45 gallon drum.

•  1/2 or 3/4 Hp electric motor

• Two pulleys which produce 250 rpm and a max of 750 rpm at mixer blade.

•  A belt for the above.

•  12 inch rolled steel rod.

•  Two steel shelf brackets (for the blade).

•  1 1/2 inch (38mm) brass ball valve.

•  A hinge and a spring to act as a belt tensioned.

•  2000-watt electric water heater element.

•  A water heater thermostat.

•  1 1/2 diameter piece of steel pipe * 3-5 inches long with male threads on one end.

•  Assorted tat: angle iron, wood, screws etc.

Assembly

 1 Cut a large opening (about half the top) in the top of the steel drum.

 2 Drill 11/2-inch hole in the bottom of the drum.  

3 Weld the 1 1/2-diameter pipe in the hole at the bottom of the drum.  

4 Attach the 1 1/2-inch brass ball valve to the pipe. This is the drain valve.  

5 Drill a hole in the side of the drum at the bottom, same size as the heater element.

6 Fit the heater element making sure it is not touching the side of the drum.

7 Wire up the heater element.

 Chemical mixer  

1 Attach one pulley to the rolled steel rod.  

2 Attach the other pulley to the spindle of the electric motor.  

3 Weld the propeller to the other end of the rolled steel rod (shelf brackets).  

4 Attach the rod, pulley and propeller assembly to one side of the hinge.  

5 Weld a piece of angle iron across the top of the drum.  

6 Weld the unattached side of the hinge to the angle iron so the propeller and rod assembly sits in the middle of the drum. The hinge should swing the propeller and rod back and forth.  

7 Mount the electric motor on the side of the drum.  

8 Fit the belt to the pulleys and tighten by wedging a block of wood into the hinge.  

You also need to fashion a simple wooden measuring stick with 10 litre increments.

 Other bits and bobs

 A hydrometer is a good piece of kit to have to measure the specific gravity of the biodiesel. The specific gravity of biodiesel should be between 0.860 and 0.900, usually 0.880. The specific gravity of vegetable oil is 0.920 therefore the specific gravity of biodiesel should be lower than the vegetable oil used to make the biodiesel.

 How to make biodiesel

 Every time you make a new batch of biodiesel using old vegetable oil you have to find out the amount of reactants required to get the correct reaction, this process is know as titration. In addition to the above equipment you will also need the following equipment:

 ·         Petri dish

 ·         20 ml beaker

 ·         1500 ml beaker

 ·         500 ml beaker

 ·         Isopropyl alcohol

 ·         A graduated eye dropper

 ·         Litmus paper

 ·         Blender with a glass bowl.

 ·         Methanol

 ·         Used cooking oil

 ·         Sodium Hydroxide

 Titration

 Step 1 Titration: to determine the quantity of catalyst required

1. Measure 1 gram of Sodium Hydroxide onto a petri dish

2. Measure 1 Lt. of distilled water into a 1500 ml beaker.

3. Pour the 1 gram of Sodium Hydroxide into the 1 Lt. of distilled water

4. Label ‘do not drink Sodium Hydroxide’

5. Measure 10 ml of isopropyl alcohol into a 20ml beaker

6. Dissolve 1ml of used vegetable oil into the isopropyl alcohol.

7. Label oil/alcohol.

8. Use the graduated eye dropper to drop 1 millilitre of Sodium Hydroxide /water solution into the oil/alcohol solution

9. After 1 millilitre of Sodium Hydroxide /water solution is added check the pH

10. Repeat steps 8&9 until the oil/alcohol reaches a pH of between 8&9. The pH increase will usually occur suddenly. Usually no more than 3 millilitres of Sodium Hydroxide /water solution will need to be added.

11. Use the following equation:

 ·         the number of millilitres of the Sodium Hydroxide/water solution dropped into the oil/alcohol mixture = x

 ·         (x+3.5)=N

 ·         N= the number of grams of Sodium Hydroxide required to neutralise and react 1 Litre of used vegetable oil.

 ·         N will be between 4.5-6.5, but it can be higher if the oil has been used for a long time.

 Step 2. Measure the reactants

 Measure the reactants in separate containers

 1 Litre of filtered used oil into a 1500ml beaker

 200 ml of methanol into a 500 ml beaker

 N grams of Sodium Hydroxide onto a petri dish

 Step 3. Dissolve the Sodium Hydroxide into the Methanol

 The third step is to combine the methanol with the Sodium Hydroxide to create sodium methoxide, an extremely strong base. Once the Sodium Hydroxide has been dissolved in the methanol, the sodium methoxide must be mixed with the vegetable oil straight away.

 ·               Carefully pour the methanol into the blender, any spills must be cleaned immediately with a water and vinegar solution.

 ·               Carefully pour the Sodium Hydroxide into the blender

 ·               Replace the lid of the blender and blend on the lowest setting for 30 seconds, until the Sodium Hydroxide has dissolved. Sodium methoxide has been produced and caution must be exercised

 Step 4. Mix the reactants

 ·               Remove the lid of the blender keeping your face well away from the top of the blender

 ·               Carefully pour the vegetable oil into the blender

 ·               Place the lid on the blender and blend on a medium/high setting for 15 minutes. If the bowl or the blender motor get over hot switch off the blender and leave until cooled down sufficiently to continue again.

 Step 5. Allow the glycerine to settle

 Settling takes about 8 hours but since 75% of the separation occurs within the first hour after the reaction immediate separation will be visible. Within 8 hours the glycerine will have fallen to the bottom leaving a layer on top, this is methyl esters, or more commonly referred to as biodiesel

 Step 6. Separation

 After blending the contents can either be transferred into a 1500ml container with a stopcock or left in the blender for at least 8 hours.

 Step 7. Clean up

 ·         Store the leftover used vegetable oil in a dry cool place

 ·         Clean all the equipment so it is ready to use again

 ·         Expose the glycerine to air and sunlight for 1 week and then use as soap.

 ·         Pour the biodiesel into your fuel tank and laugh like fuck!

 So there you have it, fuel from vegetable oil. Of course this is only one method of making biodiesel, there are many recipes for making biodiesel just take a look through the web sites at the end of this article. Don’t be fooled into thinking that biodiesel is anything but a serious contender in the alternative fuels market, throughout the world there are commercial processors being built to supply a rapidly emerging market. The government however, has chosen to ignore biodiesel, this is their mistake and something we can capitalise on. Let’s start making biodiesel and get production down to the local small scale level with co-operatives and individuals supplying all our needs while taking power away from the mega-corporations.

For more information on biodiesel check out www.planetfuels.co.uk rather than emailing us, we're no experts, unfortunately. Alternatively this book has been recommended to us: www.lowimpact.org/booksbiodiesel.htm#b159

Useful web sites:

www.biodieselcommunity.org

www.veggievan.org

www.dancingrabbit.org/biodiesel                                             

2.  Biodiesel Recipe
The recipe for making biodiesel is very simple although there are plenty of dangers involved.  This recipe is here for information purposes only and we do not recommend that you attempt to make biodiesel at home.  Protective chemical proof gloves, an apron, and goggles must be worn, and vapours released are poisonous so a dust mask is recommended.

 Vegetable oil is too thick to use directly in a diesel car's engine.  Therefore its viscosity must be reduced using a chemical process which strips the glycerin from the esters (vegetable molecules).  By replacing the glycerin with an alcohol (methanol or ethanol) by the process of transestrification we obtain a useable fuel - biodiesel.  As vegetable oil is acidic, an alkaline (sodium hydroxide NaOH also known as lye or caustic soda) is used to break the molecules.

 The following details are for new unused oil. If you intend to use old vegetable oil then the amount of sodium hydroxide must be modified to take into account the increased acidity and extra free fatty acids that need to be neutralised before they gunge up your fuel lines.

 To make a sample amount of biodiesel - e.g. 1litre you need the following:

 1. 1litre of vegetable oil

 2. 200 millilitres of methanol (95% pure)

 3. 5 grams of sodium hydroxide.

 The first step is to dissolve the sodium hydroxide in the methanol to generate sodium methoxide.  This must NOT be done in a plastic bottle as the sodium hydroxide will attack the bottle and fill it with holes. Instead use a large glass jar with a very tightly fitting lid.  Drop the sodium hydroxide into the methanol, replace the lid immediately, and shake/swirl the mixture for around 10 minutes until all of the sodium hydroxide has dissolved. A lot of heat will be generated during this process.

 Then this solution is added to the vegetable oil which has been pre-heated to 60°C. Get a 2 litre plastic drinks bottle and a funnel.  Pour the warm oil through the funnel into the bottle and then (in a well ventilated area) add the methoxide. Remove the funnel and replace the top on the bottle screwing it down tightly. Shake the bottle vigorously for 30 seconds. For best results shake the mixture for 5 seconds four times over the space of one hour.

 The mixture can then be left to settle with biodiesel appearing at the top and glycerine at the bottom.   an hour most of the glycerine will have settled out but it is best to leave the mixture overnight to settle more fully.  Next morning slowly pour off the biodiesel to use as fuel and put the glycerine on your compost heap or use it to make soap. 

To improve the quality of your biodiesel it should be washed in order to remove the soap it contains.  To do this pour your one litre of biodiesel into another two litre bottle.   1/2 litre of 40°C water gently to the bottle.  Replace the bottle top tightly and then turn the bottle end over end gently for 30 seconds.  As long as you are gentle, the cloudy (soapy) water and biodiesel will separate quickly.  Turn the bottle upside down and slowly release the water (which will form a layer at the bottom) using your thumb as a valve.  Repeat this process 2 or 3 times slowly increasing the level of agitation and the length of time you rotate the bottle.  By wash four and five you can shake the bottle fairly vigorously.  If you shake the bottle too early you will create an emulsion that will take days if not weeks to settle out.  When you have finished the water should come out of the bottle pretty much clear.  Then you can leave the biodiesel for a couple of days to settle and dry after which it will be clear and ready to use as fuel in your diesel engined car.

 Recommended website: Biodiesel Community 

3.    Making Biodiesel – the Regulations

 Making your own alternative fuel

 Many businesses and private car owners are looking to cheaper, more sustainable sources of fuel to power their vehicles. We are keen to promote the production and use of renewable fuel sources in the , and the Government has demonstrated its commitment by setting targets of 2% of sales by 2005 and 5.75% by 2010. Find out about the regulations and health and safety risks affecting you if you want to produce your own biodiesel - and where you can buy biodiesel.

 Producing biodiesel

 You can produce biodiesel using either chemical or physical production routes using either waste or virgin oil. 

 Chemical production uses a process called trans-esterification. Oil is heated, filtered and either methanol or ethanol is added, together with a small amount of sodium hydroxide catalyst. The mixture seperates in a settling tank and the by-product glycerol is removed.

 Physical production involves the physical blending of ingredients. In a typical process, oil is heated to melt the fat and remove water, then filtered and blended with hydrocarbons to modify the cetane rating.

 Regulations on chemical production

 Commercial activities

 If you produce biodiesel for commercial purposes using the trans-esterification process, this is a chemical activity that's regulated under the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Regulations 2000.

 Production by companies in the transport and haulage sectors is considered to be commercial production. However, where production is very low - around 5000 litres per year, we don't count this as commercial production as the benefit is likely to be marginal.

 If you're a small to medium  scale operator with a PPC permit, you may qualify for 'low impact' status. The fees and charges you pay are reduced to reflect the fact that your environmental impact is low.

 §         IPPC Regulatory Guidance Series No.7 “Criteria For Determining Whether an Installation Can be Classified as “Low Impact”” (Version 2, July 2003.) (MS Word, 127KB, 1min) 

This guidance note should be used as a basis for determining whether an installation falls under the classification of 'low impact' . The by-product glycerol should be sent to another operator for beneficial use, but where this is not possible it must be consigned as waste to an appropriately licensed or permitted waste facility.

 Small scale production and personal use

 If you're producing the biodiesel by the trans-esterification process for your own personal use, we do not regulate this as it is not considered to be commercial production. This also applies to collective small-scale production by a group of individuals if it's just for their own use. The group should be a properly constituted mutual club or community group, with members participating on a not-for-profit basis.

 As with the transport sector, small scale production (around 5000 litres a year) by farmers or businesses that have vehicles which are used for work as well as personal use, is generally considered to be non-commercial and we do not regulate this under PPC.

 If you are not required to hold a PPC Permit, remember that the storage of waste oil is regulated under the Waste Management Licensing regulations. However, we do allow you to treat up to 100 litres of waste cooking oil to produce biodiesel. The waste cooking oil and the biodiesel must be securely stored.

 Wherever possible, the by-product, glycerol, should be sent to another operator so it can be re-used. Where this is not possible you must consign and dispose of it as waste to a licensed facility. It should not be discharged to sewer without an appropriate Trade Effluent Consent.

Regulations on physical production

 The physical conditioning of virgin oils to produce biodiesel is not regulated under PPC or the waste management licensing regime.  The physical treatment of waste vegetable oils to produce biodiesel along with storage of waste is regulated under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations.

 §         Waste Management Licensing
Guidance on the licences required to deposit, store, treat and dispose of waste.

 HM Customs and Excise allow biodiesel producers to account for Excise duty at a lower rate. If you are intending to produce biodiesel you will need to contact HM and Revenue and Customs who will send you Form Ex 103 to register your details. See the link on the left.