House Galiagante BioDiesel Page

All information in this reserch paper is either already in the Public Domain or has been made available without licensing or royalty issues. The author neither asserts copyrights nor claims intellectual property rights on any data contained on this page. Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate and correct, but the author specifically refuses to accept any liability (expressed or implied) for anything the reader finds here, and/or for any of the reader's subsequent (in)action(s).

This document was assembled in an effort to create a relatively complete, concise body of research materials for those interested in an alternative fuel called BioDiesel. The need for this document was made clear after an exhaustive search of the World Wide Web showed surprisingly little in the way of accurate "how-to" guides on the manufacture of BioDiesel and even less in the way of proper technical data for those interested in conducting their own experiments.

The data in the document was assembled from numerous sources, including other web sites, personal contact with other researchers and many trips to annoy local organic chemists. I have made every effort to see that the material here is accurate and thorough, but you spot any glaring errors, please let me know; my contact information is listed at the bottom of this page.

On a personal note: I'm going to give the various universities (and all but one or two private individuals I contacted) a big "thumbs-down" for being generally difficult to deal with and not making any of their own research materials available without fairly major hassles. It would have been very easy for them to publish directly on the web, and none of them seem to have done that to any significant degree. Why they're jealously guarding information about a twenty-year old subject that is already in the Public Domain is beyond me.

Conversely, a big "thumbs-up" goes to the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, whose researchers both published much of what they have on alternative fuels via the web, and made themselves freely available for questions, clarifications and assitance. A similar "thumbs-up" goes to the researchers at the United States Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for much the same reasons. Thanks guys!

Research into alternative fuels has become increasingly important over the past two decades. Unstable, almost whimsical pricing on foreign crude oil and the seeming inability (and unwillingness) of the global petroleum industry to devise new fuel technologies have pushed this research into the hands of government agencies, universities and private persons/organizations.

Alkyl ester fuel -- BioDiesel -- is one of several major developments in the field of alternative fuels. Discovered nearly twenty years ago, this group of chemicals has been the subject of intensive U.S. and Canadian government study, with the Departments of Energy and Agriculture leading the way. BioDiesel has subsequently been tested by a number of large universities, private operators and commercial fleets in automotive, agricultural, locomotive and marine diesel applications with great success.

BioDiesel is a direct replacement for traditional diesel and can be run in standard diesel engines without modifications of any kind. It can also be mixed with standard petroleum diesel in any proportion if so desired. BioDiesel is non-toxic, bio-degradable, more chemically stable and less environmentally hazardous than diesel. BioDiesel is created from completely renewable sources instead of crude oil or other difficult-to-find and/or non-renewable resources.

With the public's increased awareness of environmental issues and growing dissatisfaction with the steep pricing and severe taxation on road fuels (such as gasoline and petro diesel), BioDiesel seems a logical choice for those desiring a less expensive (or at least competitive) "green" alternative to standard diesel.

BioDiesel is also of importance to federal, state and municipal fleets, as a number of new mandates from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy and Congress are now requiring more widespread use of alternative fuels and vehicles capable of using them. This is a strategy devised by the Federal government to reduce American dependancy on foreign oil. The legislation most critical to increasing the use of BioDiesel (and other alternative fuels) is the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT). Adobe Acrobat is needed to read this document.

BioDiesel is functionally identical to standard petro diesel, and from an emissions and exhaust stand-point it has a number of major advantages:

This process is safe when conducted properly. But be aware that many of the substances used here are dangerous if mishandled. Sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid are highly corrosive and are capable of causing very serious and possibly long-term injuries. Methanol is membrane-permeable and can cause nerve damage. Waste vegetable oil is classified as a toxic waste by the EPA. And chemical substitutions can be extremely hazardous (like substituting nitric acid for sulfuric acid).

Be careful! Your personal safety is ALWAYS more important than the success of any given experiment.

Smart things to DO:

Finally, a few common-sense precautions (things NOT TO DO):

Here are the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's) for the chemicals you're most likey to use during BioDiesel manufacture. I strongly suggest you review them so that you can be adequately prepared for the hazards involved:

BioDiesel can be created from virtually any type of vegetable oil (or animal fat, in a pinch). The primary constituent of vegetable oil is triglycerine -- a long-chain hydro-carbon. Catalyzing triglycerine using anhydrous methyl alcohol in the presence of a strong base (like sodium hydroxide) yields large amounts of methyl alkyl ester (BioDiesel) and smaller amounts of glycerin as a by-product.

Once the methyl alkyl ester is extracted and washed (making it safe for use in engines), the glycerin can be sold off to chemical suppliers (if it is of sufficiently high grade). Glycerin is found in more than a thousand common household products. Low grade glycerin is of no commercial value but is readily bio-degradable and can be easily disposed of without risk to the environment.

The primary catalyst (sodium methoxide) is added only in small, calculated quantities, is partially consumed by the chemical reactions (the methanol is used, leaving the hydroxides behind), and hence yields very small amounts waste (which can likely be recovered and recycled).

This conversion process is called transesterification.

The process is very efficient, yielding comparatively large amounts of BioDiesel and comparatively small amounts of waste products (which aren't necessarily waste products, as they might have commercial applications themselves). The process yields virtually nothing that could be called hazardous waste and can be conducted in very basic facilities without sophisticated manufacturing hardware, skilled labor or specialized technical support.

Of particular importance (from a production stand-point) is the type of oil(s) used. Most commercial BioDiesel vendors are using soybean oil as the primary feedstock. Exactly why isn't clear, but soybean oil is very expensive and therefore cannot be considered a good feedstock if one hopes to sell BioDiesel competitively.

Waste oils are plentiful, but will require pre-processing, making waste oils a "second-best" choice due to increased labor costs. But there is rather large amounts of waste vegetable oil to be had, and perhaps the additional work is worth it after all.

But overall, inexpensive virgin vegetable oils are the best choice for feedstocks, and can likely be supplied in large quantity by local sources. Remember that the idea is to be able to compete with petro diesel directly in an open market. At the very least, it's important to be able to make your own fuel cheaper than you can buy it.

As the use of straight vegetable oil (SVO) as a diesel alternative grows, more practical information about using this valuable resource is becoming available. Included below is information available from an FAQ provided by Greasel.com. Anyone interested in using straight vegetable oil as an alternative fuel for their own projects should consider visiting the aforementioned site as an excellent starting point for finding the necessary knowledge, parts and equipment.

While the focus here is on waste vegetable oils (like those produced by restaraunts), these preparation methods may also be used on virgin (new) vegetable oils if necessary.

Obtaining suitable feedstocks of waste vegetable oil is essential, and much of the waste vegetable oil available is either so badly degraded or contaminted that it's not worthwhile to process it. Throughout Europe and North America, the most reliable sources for obtaining large quantities of waste vegtable oil (WVO) are restaraunts. Here are a few things to keep in mind when evaluating and obtaining waste vegetable oil:

Waste vegetable oils typically contain large amounts of unwanted contaminants (including water and particulate debris) that need to be removed prior to any chemical conversion. Many methods for removing contaminants exist, but a mult-stage approach seems to work well for the typical home-producer of BioDiesel: settling, filtering and boiling.

Allowing a large volume of vegetable oil to settle is an effective, low-cost method of removing both debris and water. Applying modest heat will speed this process considerably. For example, allowing a barrel of waste vegetable oil to sit on the sun for a month or two will cause the overwhelming majority of it's contaminants to settle to the bottom of the barrel. Carefully adding a layer of water on top of the oil prior at the start of the settling time can also help to clean out debris more thoroughly, as the water will grab such debris as it settles to the bottom. Just take care not to stir up these contaminants when you pump out the oil, just as you should take care not to pump out the barrel to a level below the settling point, or you will re-contaminate your oil.

For those who prefer a more active approach, simply heat the oil above 60° Celsius and pump the oil through a commercial strainer-style motor oil filter. Immersion heaters (like those used in auto repair shops and movie theaters) do a good job at liquifying sluggish or solidified vegetable oils. Be sure to be as thorough as possible during this filtration step, repeating it as many times as necessary.

Any water retained in the waste oil must also be removed. There are two methods of effectively removing any free water that might be present. Removal of free water is critically important, as water will directly interfere with the esterification and transesterification processes we use here. A common method is to boil off the water immediately prior to processing. This requires more energy, but less time and is accomplished by heating the oil to 105° Celsius until it stops steaming and/or no more water bubbles appear. Allow this oil to cool to under 55° Celsius before handling it (this is for your own safety).

If you are using raw or virgin vegetable oils, these steps can probably be skipped, but a bit of testing ahead of time is a good idea. Some unprocessed (raw) vegetable oils do have significant amounts of water in them, and this is unacceptable. Check with the virgin oil supplier concerning water content and other compositional data. If there's any doubt concerning the debris and water content of the oil you wish to use, go ahead with filtration and water removal steps anyway.

The method detailed below is the most common method of BioDiesel production, due to its simplicity and decidedly "low-tech" approach. It's well suited for making BioDiesel under primitive and/or difficult conditions--a third world country, for example, where more exotic equipment and chemicals might be especially hard to come by.

Any vegetable oil used must be stabilized by neutralizing any free fatty acids that might be present. The amount of free acids present will vary depending on the type and condition of oil used, so proper testing ahead of time is critical. Using to much or too little catalyzing chemicals will create too much waste or might halt the desired chemical reaction entirely.

The following steps are necessary to ensure that the proper amount of catalyzing chemicals are added, fostering the most efficient reaction possible:

This test will allow the determination of the exact amount of catalyzing chemicals needed through simple mathematics. For example, if a given oil sample required 6 milliliters (drops) of sodium hydroxide dilute to raise its pH level to about 8.5, then this must be added to the base amount of necessary catalyst. For example:

6 grams of sodium hydroxide per liter of sample oil is required to neutralize free acids. 3.5 grams of sodium hydroxide per liter of triglycerine oil is required as a catalyst (this ratio is a fixed part of the process). Therefore, a total 9.5 grams of sodium hydroxide per liter of sample oil is required for efficient transesterification of the sample is question. Once this ratio has been determined, it can be used directly for any amount of a given sample oil.

As a simplification, one can use 99%+ anhydrous methyl alcohol (methanol) to conduct titration testing. This may be especially useful if access to anhydrous isopropyl alcohol becomes a problem, or if one wishes to limit the number and amount of flammable chemicals in storage.

Maria Alovert has posted details on another method of handling titration testing at http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/titratingoil that may prove more suitable for some producers. As always, we offer our gratitude for new ideas and continuing research.

Vegetable oil is primarily made of triglycerine with small amounts of assorted other compounds including trace elements, fatty acids and stray proteins that may have slipped through during the extraction process. Virgin vegetable oils can have carbon chains as short 18 points. Waste Oils (such as used cooking oils) can have carbon chains as long as 32 point after repeated heatings and coolings. By comparison, petro diesel has a carbon chain of between 11 and 13 points.

The transesterification process "breaks" the triglycerine carbon chains into something that more closely resembles diesel. Breaking triglycerine means adding sodium hydroxide at a ratio of 3.5 grams per liter of pure triglycerine in the presence of a suitable solvent. As pure triglycerine is basically never found, remember that properly testing your oil feedstocks is very important (see Titration Testing, above).

Anhydrous methyl alcohol (dry methanol) is the solvent for the sodium hydroxide, and like the sodium hydroxide is measured out by the volume of vegetable oil used, typically 15% to 20% by volume (start with 17.5% by volume). This mix of methanol and sodium hydroxide is made separately (in its own reaction chamber), creating the sodium methoxide catalyst necessary for the transesterification process.

A word of warning: the reaction that creates sodium methoxide is exothermic, and can generate enough heat to be potentially dangerous. Add the sodium hydroxide slowly and carefully while mixing it gently! One might wish to have an ice-water bath nearby to dump this chemical into in case things get too hot to handle safely.

Also note that the resulting sodium methoxide catalyst is both highly corrosive and highly toxic. Please handle this substance very carefully, as accidental exposure to sodium methoxide can cause serious and potentially long-term injuries. Use of proper safety equipment is not considered optional when using powerful chemicals such as this.

Also remember that alcohol reacts with aluminum, and no aluminum containers or utensils are permitted at any time during manufacture--use only glass, ceramic, stainless steel or chemically inert plastics.

Be sure to record the exact amounts of all materials used. This information will be needed later.

With the titration testing, determination of proportions, and sodium methoxide solution steps completed, the conversion of vegetable oil into something more useful can begin. Be sure to use a reaction chamber large enough to hold the entire volume of oil plus the volume of sodium methoxide solution plus the washing solutions (described below). If this reaction chamber happens to have a bottom tap for draining off waste products, this will be a huge help later.

The vegetable oil may be heated to approximately 50° Celsius in order to speed the reaction process. This can be a useful time-saver, but is not critical to the success for the reaction itself and can usually be skipped. However, if ambient temperatures around the reaction chamber are much below 20° Celsius, this heating step should be considered. Use your own discretion.

Simply adding the sodium methoxide to the vegetable oil (carefully) is not enough. The entire volume of liquid needs to be constantly mixed for the next 1 hour. An electric drill with a long paint mixing attachment works nicely, but any kind of high-volume mechanical mixing technique will do. The mixture will begin to thicken at first, but will thin out substantially during the mixing process as the oil catalyzes.

Please note that settling times are not set in stone (there appears to be no consensus on this subject), and the entire process may require either more or less time depending on exact conditions. A bit of careful observation should answer this question for you, so keep an eye on it while it settles.

Drain off the waste glycerin once it has settled at the bottom of the reaction chamber (again bottom tap is ideal for this). Proceed slowly and carefully, trying not to loose any significant amounts of fuel. Once completed, the fuel is ready to be finished (see "Process Finalization", below).

This method is an improvement on the Single Base Method described above. It requires somewhat more energy and somewhat larger amounts of methanol and hydroxide, but allows for a more complete conversion. This method, too, is well-suited for places where more advanced techniques would prove infeasible.

Using the Titration Testing method and the Sodium Methoxide guidelines descibed above (in the Single Base Method) determine the amount of sodium methoxide needed to process your vegetable oil. As we will not be using all this sodium methoxide all at once, be sure you have an alkyline-resistant container handy for storage between stages.

Add 75% of the prepared sodium methoxide to the vegetable oil--carefully.. The entire volume of liquid needs to be constantly mixed for the next 1 hour. The mixture will begin to thicken at first, but will thin out substantially during the mixing process as the oil catalyzes.

The BioDiesel from the first stage may be heated to approximately 50° Celsius in order to speed the reaction process. This can be a useful time-saver, but is not critical to the success for the reaction itself and can usually be skipped. However, if ambient temperatures around the reaction chamber are much below 20° Celsius, this heating step should be considered. Use your own discretion.

Add the remaining 25% of the prepared sodium methoxide to the BioDiesel--carefully.. The entire volume of liquid needs to be constantly mixed for the next 1 hour. The mixture will become somewhat cloudy and may thicken somewhat and the remaining impurities are catalyzed out.

After mixing is complete, the mixture needs to settle for twelve to twenty four hours. The reaction chamber should be closed during this time to prevent outside contamination. Waste glycerins will precipitate out of the mix and settle on the bottom, just as before, although this time, there should be less waste, and it should be a thicker, heavier liquid. You may also notice a thin layer between the fuel and the waste glycerine. This layer is mostly waxes and other things that should be discarded along with the waste glycerine.

The fuel that remains on-top (and this should constitute the majority of the liquid volume in your reaction chamber) is now ready to be finished (see "Process Finalization", below).

This is a two-stage procedure involving an acid esterification first-stage and transesterification using an alkaline (base) second-stage. It comes to us from overseas, courtesy of Aleksander Kac, who quite generously released his method to the public for non-commercial use. This is a copyrighted process, however, and inquiries about it should be directed to aleksander.kac@snaga.si. It assumes access to electricity and somewhat more sophisticated equipment, and is well-suited to more modern setting (such as North America or Europe).

This method and its proportions are based on the projected highest free fatty acid (FFA) content found in used cooking oils, and should be adequate for use with any waste vegetable/animal oil or fat, whether it has a high FFA (free fatty acid) content or not. There are claims that this process increases yields dramatically as well as improves the quality of the final fuel. We will announce our own test results as we compile them.

The actual text of the following sections are a "tidied up" and lightly edited version of the method from his website at: http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_aleksnew.html. Further clean-up on these notes will be made as time permits.

This stage uses acid-based esterification to process out existing free fatty acids (FFA's) in the feedstock, allowing more thorough transesterification during the second stage.

[Editor's Note: Parts 1 and 2 details basic methods for cleaning up waste vegetable oil. Please see "Preparing Vegetable Oils", above. Also, the author was kind enough to provide basic troubleshooting directions,and I suggest you read them even if you don't run into any complications.]

3. Measure the volume of oil/fats to be processed (preferably in liters). Record this information for use later on.

4. Heat the oil to 35° C. Make sure that any solid fats that might have been present have melted completely.

5. Methanol: use only 99%+ anhydrous methanol. Measure out the methanol at a ratio of 0.08 liters of methanol for each liter of oil/fats (8% by volume). Add the methanol directly to the heated oil.

6. Mix for 5 minutes. The mixture will become murky because of solvent change (methanol is a polar compound, oil is strongly non-polar; a suspension will form).

7. For each liter of oil/fats add 1 milliliter of 95+% sulfuric acid (H2SO4). Use a graduated eyedropper, a graduated syringe or a pipette. TAKE CARE when handling the concentrated sulfuric acid!

8. Mix gently at LOW rpm (don't splash!) while keeping the temperature at 35° C. The rotation of your stirrer should not exceed 500 to 600 rpm; speed is not crucial but splashed oil is a mess to clean.

9. Maintain the temperature at 35° C for 60 minutes then stop heating. Continue stirring.

10. Stir the unheated mixture for an additional 60 minutes, then stop mixing. Let the mixture sit at least eight hours (overnight is better).

11. In the meantime prepare the sodium methoxide: measure 0.12 liters of methanol for each liter of oil/fat (12% by volume) and weigh 3.1 grams (3.5 grams if the purity of your lye is in doubt) of 99%+ pure sodium hydroxide lye (NaOH) per liter of oil/fat. Mix the lye into the methanol until the lye is completely dissolved. Sodium methoxide is a DANGEROUS CHEMICAL. Take full safety precautions.

[NOTE: This process uses only 50% of the usual amount of lye as there is less fat left to transesterify. Use 99%+ pure sodium hydroxide lye. After opening the container, close it again as quickly as possible to prevent moisture getting in--lye is very hydroscopic and will react with the carbon dioxide in the air, reducing the lye's potency. Weigh the lye carefully -- using too much will complicate the washing and drying process later.

12. After settling for eight hours (or overnight), pour half of the prepared methoxide into the unheated mixture and mix for five minutes. This will neutralize the sulfuric acid and boost the base catalysis. If you've used solid fat, it probably solified during settling, so gently heat the mixture to liquifaction before adding the methoxide (do not exceed 55° Celsius). Proceed immediately to the second, alkaline stage (below).

This is the base-catalyzed stage needed to complete the transesterification process.

13. Heat the mixture to 55° C. Make sure that any remaining room-temperature solid fats are melted. This temperature must be maintained during the entire second stage.

14. Add the second half of the prepared sodium methoxide to the heated mixture and start mixing at the same low speed of not more than 500 to 600 rpm. Mix for 1 hour. TAKE CARE when handling the sodium methoxide -- full safety precautions!

15. If your reactor allows for it, start draining the waste glycerin from the bottom 20 to 25 minutes after the start of the base stage. Repeat every ten minutes or so. TAKE CARE! Waste glycerin will be hot and caustic, but set it aside for step 18.

16. Monitoring of the base-stage reaction can be accomplished by taking samples from the reaction container using a 1-1.5 inch diameter glass container. Watch for the straw yellow color of the ester. Glycerin will be brownish, sticky and will settle to the bottom of the sample container. 1.5 to 2.5 hours is typically required for the base-reaction to complete.

17. Allow mixture to settle for one hour. Remember to maintain the mixture's temperature at 55° C.

18. (Optional) For easier washing, measure off 25% of the total waste glycerine drained off and mix it with 10 milliliters of 10% phosphoric acid for each liter of oil/fat processed. This mixing can be done with a wooden or plastic spoon in a plastic or glass container. Pour the acidified glycerine back into the reactor and stir for twenty minutes, unheated. Allow mixture to settle for at least six hours afterwards and then drain off the glycerine fraction completely.

That's it! During the first stage free fatty acids were esterified and some triglycerides were transesterified. The base-catalyzed stage does only transesterification, but it's much quicker and more complete. The fuel must now be finished (see "Process Finalization", below) before it's ready for use.

The question will probably arise: why not mix the methanol with the sulfuric acid before adding them to the oil/fats? Two major reasons: (a) the reaction between methanol and concentrated H2SO4 is quite violent and it could splash, which doesn't happen if you mix it as described; and b) dimethyl ether can form. Mixing alcohols with concentrated H2SO4 is a way to dry the alcohols (which is good) and also a way to make di-alcohol ether, which is not good: dimethyl ether is gaseous, colorless and highly explosive.

The second-stage product should be quite murky. This is not a problem, as it will wash out.

After the processed oil/fat has turned straw-yellow (see Step 16), you've let it settle for an hour and drained off the glycerine, you should have a total of about 120 milliliters of glycerine per liter of oil/fat used. If it's less than 100 milliliters per liter of oil, even if the color is right, the process hasn't gone far enough.

This is almost certainly due to carbonated lye (lye has a severely limited shelf life). CO2 from the air neutralizes the lye and forms sodium carbonate. Carbonated lye is much whiter than pure lye, which is almost translucent. The carbonate in the lye won't harm the reaction, but you'll have to use more lye.

The solution: Repeat the procedure from step 13. Prepare a fresh batch of methoxide with 0.03 liter of methanol and 0.75 grams of lye for each liter of oil/fat. Reheat the entire mixture to 55° C and mix as before. No need this time to remove the glycerine during processing and don't worry about the color, either. Mix for an hour, settle for another hour, drain off the extra glycerine and proceed to step 18.

If you plan to continue to use the carbonated lye, make sure to increase the amount by 25% next time you make biodiesel. Store lye at room temperature, in driest conditions possible, in an air-tight container.

Often, the most difficult aspect of making BioDiesel is being certain that you've created fuel you can actually use. A multitude of things can go wrong during manufacture, and therefore proper testing is required to determine the quality of the resulting fuel. Detailed below are the details of washing, drying and testing BioDiesel along with explanations of the various things that can go wrong (and what you can do about them).

We would like to thank Maria Alovert for her excellent article on washing (and troubleshooting) BioDiesel, available at http://ww2.green-trust.org/washing_biodiesel.htm, from which we have borrowed heavily during the writing of this section.

No matter how well-made your BioDiesel might be, there are a number of impurities that will be present, both soluable and insoluable in water. These contaminants primarily consist of soap, leftover catalyst and glycerine. Some non-water soluable impurities such as mono- and di-glycerine may also be present (and these are more difficult to remove). Washing your fuel is necessary to remove the bulk of these contaminants and leave you with the highest quality fuel possible.

Emulsification of your fuel (defined as the unwanted mixing and lack of seperation between your fuel and water), is a sign that the manufacturing process didn't go entirely as planned. Properly made Biodiesel, when mixed with water, should seperate out quickly and completely. Anything less that this indicates problems.

Emulsification issues typically develop after the first washing cycle has been completed (see below). Normal, well-made BioDiesel should have a amber or golden-brown color throughout the washing process, and should appear completely seperated from the water layer. A slight haze is normal after the first wash, as the fuel will likely be retaining a small amount of water. The presense of a slight orange tint is also considered normal.

Emulsified BioDiesel will appear thick, cloudy and non-translucent, often described as being similar to mayonnaise or chicken soup. The degree of emulsification indicates the level of contamination present--from an just a thin emulsified layer between the fuel and water to seeing the entire volume in an apparently hopeless state.

Often, the best way to deal with this issue is to allow the entire volume to sit for a few hours (or days) until the emulsification "breaks" on it's own. You may also want to consider simply removing and discarding the emulsified fuel, especially if it's only a small amount.

In cases where an emulsion is being more stubborn than usual, there are a few remedies:

Heating an emulsion can break it, but it is dangerous if the heat approaches boiling point of water, so keep the level of heat applied to an emulsion under careful control. This method has the drawback of requiring an unknown amount additional energy.

Salt (Sodium Chloride):

Adding salt will break an emulsion. The water and salt molecules have more affinity for each other than water and soaps do, and cause the water portion of the emulsion to drop the soaps and take on the salt instead. With no soaps bonding to the water, the BioDiesel drops out of emulsion with that water. There are a few serious drawbacks to this method, though:

Once salt is present, you will then need to use more wash water changes to get to the finished fuel point probably due to increased water retention issues that appear inherent to salt. While salt shouldn't dissolve in perfect biodiesel ordinarily, remember that during the intermediate steps in a wash the biodiesel layer contains a lot of water and other impurities, preventing subsequent washes from being as effective as normal. White color of wash water is caused by soaps, and if you salt out an emulsion you will find a water with very little white to it and the next few washes will also have less white color to them than normal.

Salt water can be toxic depending on concentration. Be sure to dispose of salt-laced waste water in an appropriate way. Also, salt accelerates corrosion of metals. It's therefore prudent to make sure that all the salt is completely washed out.

The University of Idaho and many published instructions about washing used to recommend using acid to help make washing easier. People used to use it routinely in their first wash water and which acid to use doesn't matter very much; often household vinegar or citric acid were used. But acidifying an emulsion can compromise the quality of your finished fuel:

Acidifying a wash or an emulsion works by breaking up the soaps into their constituent parts: forming a salt and a free fatty acid. The now-free fatty acids will end up in your biodiesel and is indistinguishable from it. Note that FFA content is a concern of the ASTM and other specifications for biodiesel. As expected, this method isn't recommended unless you intend to re-react the fuel to remove the new FFA's.

This section details a washing technique called the "Iowa State Method" (sometimes called the "Bubble Chamber Method"). So far, it's the most efficient washing method we know of, in terms of consumption of energy and materials versus the final "cleanliness" of the fuel. Overall, this method does a very good job of cleaning fuel, and is a favorite cleaning technique, especially amongst home-producers.

A wash solution consisting soley of distilled water with a volume approximately equal to one third of the volume of fuel to be washed is added carefully to to the surface of the fuel to be washed (which should quickly settle to the bottom of the cleaning chamber). Use of an aquarium-style aerator ("air stone") will force bubbles into water layer at the bottom of the chamber. As these bubble of air rise to the surface (moving through the fuel layer), they carry with them small amounts of water. The water attracts contaminants, and droplets of water fall to the bottom of the chamber after bubble pops on the surface of the fuel layer, taking the contaminants with them. Hence the fuel is cleaned of water-soluable contaminants.

Washing can be accomplished using twelve-hour time-frames: twelve hours of bubble-driven agitation followed by twelve hours of settling time. During settling time, quality control tests can be administered to monitor the overall progress of the wash cycle. The washing chamber should be closed (but not sealed) during both the washing and settling cycles to prevent outside contamination. After settling is complete, drain the waste water from the bottom of the reaction chamber for testing (See "Quality Test Methods," below). Note that several bubble-washing cycles will probably be necessary, even with well-made BioDiesel.

Note that adding salts or acids to the wash water solution is not recommended. While such techniques are useful for dealing with any emulsification issues that might arise, cleaning the fuel after adding these agents becomes substantially more difficult. A better answer would be to improve one's manufacturing technique rather than expend the additional energy and resources on trying to clean badly-made fuel.

Drying is typically accomplished by simply allowing the now-washed fuel to settle in a closed container for a period of time. The better your production and washing techniques are, the less settling time you'll need to watch the last of the water settle out of your fuel. That said, settling times are likely to vary wildly, but often, this last bit of settling time is all that's required. Typically, twenty-four to forty-eight hours is a good starting point.

Drying can also be accomplished (more aggressively) by heating the now-washed fuel to approximately 110° Celsius in an open container until there is no more steam rising from the fuel, which should be a clear, amber-colored liquid. This heating process will also drive off any traces of remaining alcohol as well. Once allowed to cool to room temperatures, it can be pumped directly into vehicles, or into storage containers. If the fuel still appears somewhat cloudy after drying, the drying cycle should can be repeated, but the likely culprit is probably the presence of non-water soluable contaminants in your fuel (such as mono- and di-glycerine).

There are a few basic testing procedures to be used on the final fuel for quality assurance. These tests of very simple and easy to conduct in the field with very little equipment. Both the fuel and the waste water are examined. Water tests are three-fold: visual check of the waste water, check for soap (glycerin) and for check leftover solvents. These tests are important for evaluating the final fuel for quality and stability.Use of a pH meter is necessary, as many of these basic tests will require it.

Emulsification testing is visual: Basically, one takes a small sample of the finished BioDiesel and mixes it with water in a test tube using a few seconds of vigourous shakes. If the fuel is clean, the water and the fuel should seperate from each other quickly and completely, with no noticable changes to either in color or consistancy. If the fuel emulsifies with the water, additional cleaning will be required.

Another visual check can be done during the draining process. Waste water should run clear. If it appears at all cloudy or has any odd coloration or debris (however small), the wash cycle will have to be repeated.

The soap test involves taking a sample of waste water, placing it in a test tube and shaking it vigorously. If soap bubbles form (or you see a distinct film on the inside of the test-tube), the wash cycle will have to be repeated.

Solvent testing is a simple pH check. If the waste water has a pH reading outside of 7.0, the wash cycle will have to be repeated. If results are marginal, repeating the wash cycle is a matter of discretion.

Fuel tests are two-fold:

One can use a testing kit available from many automotive parts stores to check for the presence of free glycerin in the fuel. These kits are normally used to test for the presence of ethylene glycol-based anti-freeze in motor oil, but seems to be an effective for nearly any kind of glycerin or glycol-based substance that might be present in hydrocarbon fuels. This kit is commonly used by "pre-owned" car dealers to check for internal coolant leaks (which usually result in anti-freeze appearing in the crankcase oil). if your fuel test positive for glycering, additional washing will be needed.

So-called "reaction testing" is also a very good way to test for the overall quailty of one's fuel. By taking a sample of your own fuel and sending it back through the transesterification process, the overall fuel quality can be established by the amount of waste products created; the smaller the amount of waste, the better the original manufacturing process was. In a pinch, this technique may also be used to try to clean up badly-made fuel.

Once washing, drying and testing have been completed, the BioDiesel is ready for use, and may be pumped directly into vehicles or storage containers as necessary. It is highly recommended at all the above tests be completed in order to ensure the very highest quality fuel possible. See "Known Problems" below.

The new material in this section was generously contributed by Rudy Dermawan (dermawan@continentalcorp.ws) in December of 2001, and I would like to thank him personally for his insight, assistance and generosity.

Substitution of the basic chemicals used is a simple matter of determining the equivilant normality of the chemical equation after a substitution is made. And luckily, the transesterification process is fairly flexible about which catalysts and solvents one can use. Depending on price and availability of various chemicals, some of the following substitutions may prove worthwhile.

We will announce our test results on various chemical substitutions as they become available.

For our purposes, we will only consider potassium hydroxide as an acceptable substitute catalyst. Suggestions on other useable catalysts are welcome. The following substitution may be used without regard to the solvent used.

Potassium hydroxide may be substituted for sodium hydroxide at a ratio of 56:40 (or 1.4:1), meaning you will use 1.4 units of potassium hydroxide for every 1 unit of sodium hydroxide normally used.

Note that altering the catalyst does not change the kind of fuel produced (catalysts aren't directly used in a chemical reaction).

For our purposes, we will only consider anhydrous ethyl alcohol and anhydrous isopropyl alcohol as acceptable substitute solvents. The following substituations may be made without regard to the catalyst used. Note, however, that by changing the solvent, you'll be changing the exact form of BioDiesel you'll be creating (all the procedures discussed so far will create methyl alkyl ester fuel). But fear not! All are functionally identical, each being as stable and useable as the others.

You may substitute anhydrous ethyl alcohol for anhydrous methyl alcohol at a ratio of 46:32 (1.4375:1), meaning you will use 1.4375 units of ethyl alcohol for every 1 unit of methyl alcohol normally used. With this change, you'll be creating ethyl alkyl ester fuel.

You may substitute anhydrous isopropyl alcohol for anyhydrous methyl alcohol at a ratio of 60:32 (1.875:1), meaning you will use 1.875 units of isopropyl alcohol for every 1 unit of methyl alcohol normally used. With this change, you'll be creating branched alkyl ester fuel.

Basically, recovery of the alcohol used during transesterification is not possible. Our application of transesterification is a form of alcholosis, and the all alcohol is consumed in the reaction (if you measured everything out properly, anyway). If you're able to recover significant quantities of alcohol from your experiment, it's because you're using too much alcohol in the first place! Try reducing the amount of alcohol by a few percentage points until you get to the point that you're not able to recover any alcohol from your experiment.

But the recovery of useable catalysts from waste glycerine may be possible. At the very least, a way of cleaning out left-over hydroxides will be needed if the waste glycerine is to be made useful in any capacity. We will be reviewing this issue in detail in an effort to further reduce operating costs. We will announce the details of catalyst recovery as they become available.

For the average home-producer of BioDiesel, methods of efficiently making methanol basically don't exist. While methods of making methanol from natural gas (methane), sawdust, etc., are well-documented, well-developed technologies, the equipment required is very large and and very expensive. Realistically, full-scale industrial chemical processing facilities are required to handle the problem of making significant amounts of methanol with any amount of efficiency.

A home user might consider using ethanol instead, except that bio-mass conversion techniques (such as yeast fermentation of simple sugars) aren't efficient at all! Consider that fairly large amounts of raw materials and energy is required to produce comparatively small amount of ethanol. Indeed, even major industrial operations have found that making ethanol is cost prohibitive most of the time, as the total energy in an amount of ethanol is sunstantially less than the total amount of energy required to produce it! It is this fact that most critics of alcohol-based fuels use to (quite correctly) justify their arguments.

We have arrived at the conclusion that unless you have large-scale industrial chemical facilities at your disposal, the costs and other penalties of making your own alcohol will outweigh any potential benefits you were probably hoping to take advantage of. If this situation changes anytime in the near future, we will post our findings here.

The information in this section was originally published by DarkStar VI based on experiments by Paul Gobert. The original article was written by Phillip Hill and is available at: http://www.biodieselgear.com/documentation/AqueousCatalyst.pdf. What follows is a condensed version of that original article.

The idea of adding water into the production of BioDiesel seems counter-intuitive, but experiments seem to support the idea that all this extra water isn't a problem at all--the hydroxides bind the water, which is flushed with the rest of the waste products after the transesterification process if completed. Indeed, dissolving hydroxides in water has a number of specific and very appealing advantages:

The idea is to dissolve sodium hydroxide in distilled, de-ionized water at 20° Celsius. According to published technical data one can dissolve no more than 1 gram of pure sodium hydroxide per 0.9 milliliters of pure water at 20°Celsius. Extending this idea tells us we can dissolve 1 kilogram of sodium hydroxide in 900 milliliters of water, yeilding an equivilant measure of 1.2 milliliters of solution (which would contain 1 gram of sodium hydroxide).

Some words of caution: adding hydroxides to water will create a strong exothermic reaction, and one might wish to have an ice water bath nearby in case things get too hot to safely handle. Also, strong alkali solution can etch glass, so use of stainless steel or chemically inert plastics is advised for all vessels and utensils involved in the creation of concentrated aqueous solutions.

However, commercially available chemicals are rarely completely pure, some experimentation is required. Starting with 900 millilaters of pure, de-ionized water at 20° Celsius (the baseline volume of water for sodium hydroxide), add sodium hydroxide slowly until the solution reaches saturation, at which point any additional hydroxide will simply precipitate out. Recording the amount hydroxides used and performing a final volume check will yeild your liquid measure per gram of the solution just created. For example: If your final solution has a total volume of 1300 milliliters, divide by 1000 and then you may use 1.3 millilters of your solution for every gram of sodium hydroxide called for in your experiment.

Using such a solution is simple: By multiplying the amount of hydroxides needed (in grams) by the concentration value of an aqueous solution, you arrive at the amount of solution to add, in milliliters. For example, if your experiment calls for 10 grams of sodium hydroxide, you may add 13 milliliters of the above-mentioned solution.

A word about storage: concentrated aqueous solutions will need to be stored at or above 20° Celsius or they will begin to solidify. Further, these solutions need to be stored in air-tight, chemically inert plastic containers (no glass!) in order to prevent contamination from atmospheric water and carbon dioxide.

There are numerous favorable reports concerning the use of concentrated aqueous solutions. At present, we have no tested this idea on our own. We will, however, publish our own findings and conclusions regarding this technique as soon as they become available.

What we know so far is this: Using lipase enzymes (or some form of them) in the presence of isopropyl or isobutyl alcohol yields a new form of BioDiesel called branched-alkyl ester. This process is a form of bio-catalysis that we believe is called interestification. Branched-alkyl ester fuel appears to have superior cold-weather properties without sacrificing any of BioDiesel's other desirable characteristics. As one might expect, it drew our immediate attention.

This process is known to be substantially more efficient, derived from the the ability to convert fatty acids as well as triglycerine, which removes the problem of titration testing and neutralization of free fatty acids completely. The most direct benefits include the creation of smaller quantities or higher-grade glycerin by-products and cleaner fuel overall. Without the use of strong alkylines, the problems of pH balancing and free solvents afterwards also (apparently) vanishes.

The drawbacks mostly stem from the increased complexity of this production method and increased production costs due to the exotic chemicals and equipment involved. But it may be possible to recover the catalyzing enzymes so that they may be recycled, thereby reducing production costs. Additionally, its logical to sell off the high-grade glycerin created by this new process, further offsetting production costs.

However, the few techniques we have found are either tightly controlled, proprietary processes or are highly theoretic (and untested) and due to intellectual property and copyright laws, we are unable to clearly explain any of them here. It was our opinion, however, the combined complexities and expenses involved would leave enzymatic catalysis methods effectively out-of-reach for the typical home-producer of BioDiesel. If this situation changes anytime in the near future, we will post our findings here.

BioDiesel does have a few issues that have either not yet been properly resolved or can be worked around. Some of these issues are related, so bear with us as we try to explain them. These issues have been uncovered after several years of research by various state, federal, educational and private programs and are detailed below, roughly in order of priority:

The most commonly reported failure with BioDiesel-fueled vehicles is fuel injector failure caused by severe fouling. In most cases, the fouling problem has been traced to fuel quality variations, where a manufacturer has allowed significant quanitities of free glycerin into their fuel (this is not permitted by the current specifications).

Additionally, abnormally high levels of free alcohol in commercial BioDiesel has caused accelerated deterioration in natural rubber seals and gaskets, even in cases where the BioDiesel has been blended with petro diesel in an attempt to protect fuel systems. Current standards do not allow any free solvents in production-grade fuels. In cases where manufacturers have failed to meet this standard, we see the second-most commonly reported failure: damage to fuel lines and injector pumps diaphragms, both of which are typically manufactured from natural rubber.

The deterioration of natural (nitrile) rubber parts in a fuel system can have severe impacts on fuel economy and engine power, in much the same way injector fouling can damage injectors to the point that engine efficiency becomes badly impaired, or renders an engine entirely inoperative.

Ultimately, this ends up being a quality control issue for the manufacturers, who must invest in better production methods and better quality control methods. Current specification are quite stringent concerning the type and quantity of impurities present in fuel-grade alkyl ester fuels, and many manufacturers seem to be having some difficulty meeting the necessary criteria.

Alkyl ester fuels have solvent properties very different from that of petro diesel. As a result, some of the materials used in diesel fuel systems have been found to be incompatible with BioDiesel. The primary issue is the use of natural rubber (nitrile) in pump diaphragms and fuel lines.

BioDiesel will cause accelerated deterioration of nitrile rubber components. This will be made worse if the fuel contains high levels of free alcohol. The only solution is to replace these components with BioDiesel-compatible synthetics, such as Teflon or fluorinated rubber (Viton). Further, buffering fuel with an additive capable of counter-acting the solvent properties of BioDiesel seems prudent, though merely blending BioDiesel with petro diesel hasn't proven to be an effective buffering method.

Also, there is the possibility that BioDiesel, with its particular solvent properties, might begin to dissolve otherwise dormant build-ups within a fuel system and cause abnormally high occurrences of fuel filter clogging. It may also by possible that BioDiesel will react with certain mild steels used in fuel tanks (or the polymer lining used by some manufacturers), and this will create a larger work-load for the fuel filter, adding to premature failures. In a few test-cases, an unusual vanish-like residues found in fuel pumps and at the bottom of fuel tanks seems to indicate that these theories may be on the right track.

But please note that these theories are untested at present, and are currently being studied. Once studied, it is expected that U.S. vehicle manufacturers will be altering the matierials they use in order to be compatible with existing BioDiesel standards. Various European and Asian vehicle manufacturers have already made the necessary changes to their designs.

Erring on the side of caution is wise, it would be prudent to double the normal maintainence schedule on all fuel system components in any BioDiesel-powered vehicled until this issue is completely resolved.

Nearly all fuel oils have difficulty operating properly under intensely cold conditions. At temperatures below freezing, fuel oils will begin to thicken, making things very difficult for fuel pumps and injectors. Once temperatures drop much below -15° Celsius, this problem can become so severe that the fuel system of a diesel engine can be rendered inoperative.

The traditional solution has been to install tank heaters into the affected vehicle(s) and allowing them to idle under cold conditions instead of shutting the engines down entirely. This simple technique has proven itself both an effective and inexpensive of keeping fuel warm and liquid. This method, however, isn't always practical considering the cost and logistics of retro-fitting fuel tanks with heating elements.

BioDiesel has the added problem of sometimes forming particulate solids under intensely cold conditions. These formations are composed of various trace impurities (such as free proteins and glycerin) left behind after manufacture, and once solidified can easily clog feedlines, filters and injectors. The severity of this problem seems to vary depending on the exact manufacturing methods used.

The United States Department of Agriculture (of all people) has taken a look at this problem and has devised a simple and clever answer that appears to work nicely. Their technique is a simple matter of chilling BioDiesel to around -15 to -20° Celsius, allowing the particulates to form and then removing them using conventional filtration equipment. The fuel is then treated with over-the-counter winterizing agents and allowed to return to normal temperatures.

This issue will need to be addressed at the manufacturing level by means of improving the filtration and washing treatments that reduce the amount of leftover impurities as much as possible. Adding winterizing agents to the fuel immediately after production has also been proposed as a possible answer. These elements will need to be factored into the production costs, of course. If the above-mentioned "cold filtration" method is used, the costs of specialized refrigeration equipmentand energy must also be factored in.

This issue, too, is currently under study.

A popular application for BioDiesel is to mix it with standard petro diesel. While a good theory on paper, this idea has a few problems that need to be dealt with.

At issue is an effective method for mixing these two fuels homogeneously, and determining the conditions under which these two fuels might separate. Though blended BioDiesel fuels have been the focus of serious real-world experimentation, this issue still remains unresolved.

An educated guess says that this problem will require a third substance to act as a flux to bond the two fuels together and even then, large amounts of vigorous mixing will be needed. But this has yet to be tested properly.

On the positive side, BioDiesel seems to almost completely halt the formation of algaes and other microbial contamination usually associated with long-term, uncontrolled storage of diesel fuels. Alkyl esters appear to be a very hostile environment for such organisms, suggesting that adding BioDiesel to petro diesel might solve certain storage problems.

While once considered a fallicy, allegations of unusual engine wear and dilution of engine oil have been proven to be true. Many researchers have had the engines used in their experiments disassembled and closely inspected for signs of exactly these problems. Many times, there are no discernable problems, other times noticable increases in engine wear and crankcase deposits have been found. The problem stems from a combination of engine design, the exact lubricants used and the amount of attention operators are paying to routine maintenance.

Vehicle manufacturers have chosen a conservative stand on this issue, suggesting the schedule for engine oil replacement be doubled in order to absolutely ensure proper engine lubrication, though this seems a bit excessive. Use of newer, synthetic lubricants may ultimately prove to be the best solution.

However, it does appear that using blended BioDiesel fuel does cause an engine to run slightly hotter than with either diesel or BioDiesel alone. Why this is the case has not yet been determined, but in cases where vehicles are using blended BioDiesel fuels, proper maintenance of the cooling system has prevented this problem from becoming a major one.

Of course, proper maintenence of any vehicle is always good idea, regardless of the fuel one might use, but for those concerned with possible cooling system or engine oil problems may want to double the normal maintainence schedule for their engines.

Although BioDiesel works well in un-modified engines, there is evidence to indicate that engines running straight BioDiesel (or blends where BioDiesel constitutes the majority of the fuel) might benefit (in both power and efficiency) from slight engine timing adjustments.

While we have no verified experimental data on this idea, it is logical to assume that the slight chemical differences between standard diesel and mono alkyl esters might require minor adaptation as far as engines are concerned. This is not necessary, of course, but anyone interested in tailoring engine performance around BioDiesel may wish to experiment with engine timing.

We will be conducting our own research of this issue and will post our results as soon as they become available.

Studies by various BioDiesel manufacturers and by the United States Navy show that BioDiesel has long-term storage properties similiar different to that of petroleum diesel, and therefore somewhat more careful storage procedures apply:

Note that any fuel storage additive suitable for use in petroleum diesel should be equally effective in BioDiesel.

With feedstocks accounting for more than three-quarters of the production costs of Biodiesel, it's obvious why acceptance and development of this fuel has been such a struggle. The agricultural sector must accept most of the blame for this, especially in recent years, as they have lobbied heavily for use of the most expensive possible feedstocks (such as soy bean oil) for Biodiesel conversion.

Additionally, the use of vegetable oils that are more properly used in food production is highly questionable, at best. Using the recent corn-ethanol fiasco as an example, what we see is a sharp increase in food prices and fuel prices both, despite reassurances from the agricultural sector that those things weren't going to happen. This situation persists because manufacturing ethanol for fuel is a losing proposition being pushed as a political agenda by elected officials either wishing to appear environmentally friendly and/or profitting directly from ethanol manufacturing.

It is our contention that only minimal use of virgin feedstocks should be necessary in light of the huge amounts of waste vegetable oil (WVO) available, and certainly the extra development of more effecient recycling technologies for WVO are well worth the price.

As mentioned previously, many of these problems do not yet have satisfactory answers, and further research is needed to both completely define the nature of these problems and to devise solutions. A good starting point is to begin evaluating commercially available diesel fuel additives. Fortunately, most petro diesel fuel additives appear to be compatible with BioDiesel and there appears to be no shortage of candidates for testing and evaluation.

The most logical starting point is to investigate new production methods that might reduce the amount of stray by-products left behind after manufacture, plus better washing and/or filtration processes to trap these impurities more efficiently. Superior manufacturing using superior standards will create superior fuels, and anyone making BioDiesel should strive to maintain the highest possible standards.

Further research into inexpensive fuel additives and enhancements to existing production techniques remains to be completed. Reports on such research will be published as soon as they become available.

With the state and federal governments fighting anything that might reduce their tax-derived revenues, the road tax issue has becoming a real problem for commercial users of diesel in particular. By federal mandate, color-coding of kerosene and diesel fuels is required. The dyes themselves are harmless and do not affect the operations of an engine in any way.

Red diesel and kerosene is tinted using a dispersion dye called Red-164, and is not for over-the-road use. Its cheaper because there have been no road taxes paid on it. But getting caught with red diesel in a vehicle operating on public roads typically incurs heavy fines and other hassles upon the operator.

Blue diesel (sometimes called green diesel) has been fully road-taxed and is commensurately more expensive. This fuel is tinted using an organic dye called 1,4-dialkyl amino anthraquinone. This dye gives the glowing blue-green color that tax inspectors look for. Methods for removing these dyes from fuels have not generally succeeded, and the addition of these dyes seems quite permanent.

Recently the fuel dye regulations changed. After an incident where a flight-line technician realized that there was no easy way to distinguish blue diesel from blue aviation gasoline, the FAA requested that the use of blue dyes in diesel be discontinued immediately thereafter as it represented an unacceptable flight safety risk. The IRS agreed, and now road-taxed diesel is un-dyed. Use of red dyes in non-road-taxed fuels remains unchanged. At present, there are no regulations regarding use of other colors in road fuels. Also, another recent change in fuel tax laws now classifies kerosene as a road fuel, which is now taxed and dyed appropriately.

Organic dyes are readily available from industrial chemical supply houses and can be added directly to BioDiesel to give it whatever color one desires. And on a lighter note, it may be possible to use organic dyes to tint BioDiesel any number of odd colors, such as yellow, purple or orange. Exactly which dyes one might use for these exotic colors has not yet been investigated, but it is expected that any dye suitable for use in hydro-carbon fuels should work nicely in BioDiesel. Note, however, that organic dyes tend to be very expensive and are generally available for bulk sales only.

Another possibility for vegetable oil that deserves proper research is the production of a gasoline substitute using a variation of the (trans?)esterification process.

Gasoline is a blend of numerous hydrocarbons, including varying quantities of pentane, hexane, septane, octane, benzene and numerous other light hydrocarbons. Gasoline has some very peculiar properties (both physical and chemical) that may prove very difficult to simulate, but these problems are not considered insurmountable.

But the real questions are:

Considering the overwhelming popularity of gasoline engines, the prospect of developing an effective, easily-created substitute for petro gasoline is a very exciting one, indeed. The commercial implications alone are staggering, but at this point in time, we can only speculate if its even possible.

Additionally, if such a method is found, the introduction of fuel substitutes for aviation and marine use becomes comparatively simple and potentially very profitable.

We will be investigating this line of research in the near future. We plan to publish everything fully, and any process we invent along the way will be released to the Public Domain, patent and license free. We have no great love for the petroleum industry and we wish to ensure that a discovery of this importance doesn't get buried under paperwork or mysteriously "lost" by anyone.

Use of metric measurements throughout this documents were used as a matter of scientific convention. Conversion between English and Metric units of measurement used in this document are as follows:

1 liter = 0.26417 gallons
1 gallon = 3.78541 liters (128 fluid ounces)
1 quart = 0.94635 liters (32 fluid ounces)
1 pint = 0.47318 liters (16 fluid ounces)

1 gram = 0.0001378 ounces
1 ounce = 28.349523 grams
1 pound = 453.59237 grams

degrees Celsius = 0.55555556 * (degrees Fahrenheit - 32 )
degrees Fahrenheit = ( 1.8 degrees Celsius ) + 32

Formal experimentation has only just started, and as such, this section is still under construction. Please check back later to see how we're doing. We expect this journal to grow in size to the point where it will require a page of its own--wish us luck!