Manufacturing Diesel Fuel From Vegetable Oil

This article explains the process for manufacturing Biodiesel fuel. The main ingredient of Biodiesel is vegetable oil, which can be easily converted to fuel using a Biodiesel kit.

This can be done on an industrial scale, or domestically producing homemade Biodiesel. For the uninformed, Biodiesel is substitute for fossil fuel, such as petroleum diesel fuel. This is a cost effective alternative because most modern diesel burning engines can use Biodiesel with little or no modifications.

A significant benefit of Biodiesel is that it burns cleaner than fossil-based fuel. This reduces global warming and has a positive impact on the environment.

As mentioned above, the main raw material required for Biodiesel manufacturing using a Biodiesel kit is vegetable oil. In addition, homemade Biodiesel production also requires a small quantity of methanol alcohol. Pretty much any kind of vegetable product can be used for its oil. In North America corn is plentiful. Therefore corn oil is the most common raw ingredient in the Biodiesel Manufacturing process in American manufacturing plants. Manufacturing facilities in other parts of the word use other types of vegetables - rapeseed, soybeans, and flaxseed - being the most common.

Ester interchange is the process of manufacturing Biodiesel from vegetable oil. It does this by combining the oil with a small quantity of Methanol in the presence of an alkaline catalyst such as sodium hydroxide. Vegetable oil is made up of triglycerides, which comprises of alcohol glycerin and fatty acids. Ester interchange removes the glycerin molecule from the three fatty acids and replaces it with three methanol molecules. This process yields approximately 9 parts fuel to 1 part glycerin byproduct. The byproduct does have some uses - such as animal feed.

When making homemade Biodiesel, one can use used domestic cooking oil. But be sure to first clear the oil of all impurities. This can be best done through the use of Biodiesel Kits.

The Industrial Biodiesel manufacturing process follows essentially the same process but one a much larger scale. In many ways, this can be compared to oil refineries in that they can produce large quantities of fuel.

From this above description, it is clear that there is less pollution during the Biodiesel manufacturing process as compared to the conventional fuel refining process of fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline. Cleaner to use and cleaner to produce, Biodiesel is a viable alternative energy source.