Natural Gas Pros

roosterbob asked:


Home Biodiesel processors are very easy to assemble.  Biodiesel processors can come from some materials which you can recycle from home or from some stuff from the junk yard:

Assembling the drum

1. Cut half of the top of the steel drum. Better if you can find a drum which doesn’t have the top anymore.

2. Prepare a hole for pipe attachment at the bottom of the drum. Do this by drilling a one and a half inch hole

3. Weld the pipe into the hole that you just drilled

4. Attach a brass ball valve which will serve as the drain control. Brass ball valves are more durable and are recommended for home made biodiesel processors.

5. Fit the heater element onto a hole that you will drill on the side of the drum. Heater elements can be purchased from your local hardware or be recycled from your old water heater

6. Wire the heater element properly



Chemical Mixer

1. Fasten one pulley to the mixer

2. Assemble the other pulley to the spindle of the motor

3. Weld the propellers to the end of the steel rod

4. Attach the mixer to the hinge so you can move it whenever needed

5. Weld the mixer assembly on the top of the drum using angled iron as support

6. Attach one side of the hinge to the angle iron to set the mixer in the middle of the drum

7. Tightly fit the belt to the pulleys by placing a block of wood into the hinge. The mixing capability is essential to Biodiesel processor to obtain good quality fuel.

8. Attach a measuring stick made of wood to know the quantity of the Biodiesel being produced

Here are some more pointers:

Biodiesel processors are just like big blenders. The rotors will mix the raw Biodiesel.

Biodiesel containers must be leak free.  Instead of welding, industrial adhesives can be used to assemble Biodiesel processors. For portability, you can attach industrial wheels so you can move it from one place to another.

Remember the precautions to be observed during the production of Biodiesel. The process involves handling of hazardous chemicals before you can yield usable Biodiesel fuel.

Makebiodieselathome asked:


The best way to by quality biodiesel is to buy it from a producer that is recommended by the national biodiesel board. It is a mistake to purchase homemade biodiesel from just anyone as it may have a volatile flash point (causing an unexpected fire in your diesel engine!) or it could have exaggerated solvent properties and scald and dissolve the components of your fuel pumps and diesel engine. The best idea is to purchase fuel only from a reputable source — from companies that are ‘certified marketers’ or ‘accredited producers’ under the BQ-9000 Biodiesel Quality program. The National Diesel Board is a very reputable organization that

rates and approves companies that have this certification. The National Biodiesel Board, the trade association for the biodiesel industry, has formed the National Biodiesel Accreditation

Commission (NBAC) to audit biodiesel production and marketers in order to enforce fuel quality standards in the US. NBAC issues a ‘Certified Biodiesel Marketer’ seal of approval for biodiesel marketers that have met all requirements of fuel accreditation audits. This seal of approval assures customers that the biodiesel fuel meets the ASTM standards for biodiesel and that the fuel supplier will stand behind its products. To refresh your memory, pure biodiesel is referred to as B100 or ‘neat’ biodiesel. A biodiesel fuel blend is pure biodiesel blended with petrodiesel. The national biodiesel board refers to biodiesel product blends are referred to as Bxx. The xx indicates the amount of biodiesel in the blend. For example, a B20 blend is 20 percent by volume biodiesel and 80 percent by volume petroleum based diesel

fuel. Read more on how to Make Your Own Biodiesel  The National Diesel Board doesn’t set the quality standards for biodiesel, it simply gives a stamp of approval to biodiesel products that meet government quality control standards. So just who is responsible for setting the quality standards of biodiesel? In the case of diesel fuel (and biodiesel), the responsibility for

setting standards lies within ASTM Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants. In order to assure that the standards are realistic and enforceable, ASTM committee D02 is comprised of fuel producers, engine equipment manufacturers, and third party interests (users, government agencies, consultants). ASTM utilizes a ballot process in which a single negative vote against a diesel fuel or biodiesel product is enough to defeat the ballot.  This

means that the biodiesel product does not make the grade and will not be listed with the national biodiesel board. An ASTM standard approval for any product is not easily achieved.

Some standards can take over 10 years to gain agreement and be issued by ASTM. This rigorous, time-consuming process is why ASTM standards are so important to the national biodiesel board which has to guarantee quality biodiesel fuel to you - the consumer.

roosterbob asked:


Back then, we failed to realize the implications of our actions or the repercussions of a developed society highly dependent on petroleum and incessantly slave to the dictates of the mighty oil barons.

When automated vehicles were first introduced to the world, could anyone have anticipated the vast impact it will have to the economy? Who would have thought that combustion engines would turn out and be the backbone of today’s society? Decades ago, this idea seemed to be too great to fathom. However, its environmental impact was then, not recognized probably because of lack of foresight.



Biodiesel: Pros

•    Right here and now, what we have is biodiesel. This is an alternative for petroleum-based fuel that boasts a cleaner burn as compared to its expensive and environmentally unsound counterparts.

•    Biodiesel is a  renewable fuel source that stems from various resources including vegetable, canola, palm, and soybean oils.

•    In addition, this fuel releases far less nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and unburned hydrocarbons. And since biodiesel processors convert vegetable oil, it is biodegradable and non-toxic. Do not forget the absence of sulfur products as oppose to petro-diesel. Given this lack of sulfur, biodiesel still possesses the required viscosity to fully lubricate diesel engines, which cannot be easily arrived at when dealing with low-sulfur petroleum products.

•    With the proper biodiesel equipment, the fuel output can be used in almost all diesel engines with modifications that are considered discretionary. Also, having a renewable fuel source will moderate our reliance on foreign oil corporations, or dare we say, the Middle East oil tycoons. If local farmers produce the needed raw material for our biodeisel, then we do not need to import oil because we can manufacture it ourselves, right?



Biodiesel: Cons

•    The fuel generated by biodiesel processors is an inherent solvent; meaning, sooner or later it will trigger the deterioration of various rubber components such as hoses and pumps. Though this can be easily replaced by visiting your local dealer. Sometimes extra tubing is included in a biodiesel expansion pack. This package is ideal if you plan to make batches and batches of biodiesel.

•    Also, this solvent characteristic will clean the injectors and the tank, as well as the fuel lines; the downside is that, blockage is inevitable. But this is not a reason to be worried. Just prepare yourself to a frequent filter change for the first couple tanks of biodiesel.

•    As for the gel point, biodiesel posts higher than that of its petroleum equivalent. This connotes that the former coagulates faster. But, this too, can be resolved by using an anti-gel additive.

•    The last issue lies on the recent introduction of biodiesel. This is fairly new and consumers may have a hard time locating biodiesel processors and kits. Well, a quick search in the World Wide Web is the solution for this one.

Whether you prefer it straight up or mixed (20% biodiesel to 80% petroleum diesel), so long as nature is unscathed, then it is all good. This alternative could be one of man’s greatest achievements. Though this time around, we need to take the time to become aware of its pluses and minuses, including the ideal method of generating, regulating, and utilizing this precious liquid we call biodiesel.

Markella M. asked:


Biodiesel becomes more and more popular every year. It’s popularity probably derives from the fact that biodiesel is so cheap and relatively easy to be made. You can make it in your own backyard or kitchen. It is far better than the original petro-diesel, it’s cleaner and better for the environment and your health. Let’s talk about the three options you have when running a diesel engine on biofuel.

All three options can be used with vegetable oils, animal fat or both (it doesn’t matter if you use fresh or used oils):

- You can use the oil as it is

- You can mix the oil with another chemical supplement like kerosene, or gasoline or petroleum etc.

- You can convert the oil to biodiesel

Using the oil as it is can be clean and effective. Not to mention cheap also. But you have to make modifications to the diesel engine so that it is optimized for vegetable oil. You can find pre-modified diesel engines where you can use petro diesel, biodiesel and pure vegetable oil in any combination. There are engines with separate fuel tanks and a switch, you fill one tank with vegetable oil and the other tank with original petroleum diesel. Then you just turn on the engine using the tank with the original petroleum diesel and after a while you switch to the tank with the vegetable oil.

Mixing the oil with other supplements is your second option. Because vegetable oil is thick you mix it with a different type of fuel to make it thinner so that it flows easily into the combustion chamber of your diesel engine. Remember that using petroleum or kerosene to mix the vegetable oil, is not a clean option though. You can make various mixes (for example 20% vegetable oil and 80% of another diesel fuel). Some claim that if you use such a mix you have to preheat the engine, others just start the engine and go without preheating.

Your final option (and by far the best, in my opinion) is to convert the vegetable oil into biodiesel. Because biodiesel works in any diesel engine without the need to make any conversion or modifications to the fuel system or the engine itself. Just fill and go. Biodiesel is a much safer, clean, ready to use fuel that’s well tested. This option unlike the other two is backed by thousands of short-term and long-term research and tests by scientists around the world.