dianadabinett

With a litre of diesel now costing around £1.30 a new army of “home brewers” has emerged. Unwanted oil from chip shops and restaurants that would otherwise have been disposed of in landfill sites is now being converted into biodiesel. The conversion process is relatively simple although a basic understanding of chemistry may be advisable. Once you have obtained a source for the used oil which should usually be free the oil needs to be left to settle and then can be filtered, around 70% should be pure enough to use neat depending on the vehicle. The rest then can be converted by adding methanol and caustic soda. The oil is then heated causing it to react with the caustic soda. The waste product from the process is glycerine which has to be washed out of the biodiesel with soap and half-water to half-fuel. All this will probably have put most people off by now but substantial savings can be achieved in this age of soaring fuel costs.