How much bio-diesel is produced from 1 liter of unused vegetable oil and how much ethanol (or wood-based methanol) is required to make this amount of bio-diesel?
( 3.79 liters equals 1 gal ) A general recipe for biodiesel production is: 100 grams canola, 31 grams ethanol, and 1.4 grams potassium hydroxide (KOH). With methanol we use 22 grams with 1 gram of KOH. If the oil has been used for frying and the free fatty acids are high it requires more catalyst to compensate for the catalyst that will be lost to soap formation. You need to measure the free fatty acid content of the oil (by titrating with potassium hydroxide). Then, add 0.2 grams of extra KOH for each gram of fatty acids in the oil. This approach will work for oils with fatty acids as high as 5-7% if the water content is low. These recipes are based on a 100% excess of alcohol so about 50% of the alcohol could be recovered and reused if proper equipment is in place. So, since a liter of oil weighs about 910 grams (2 lbs), you need 282 grams of ethanol and 12.7 grams of KOH.
Related Questions
- How much bio-diesel is produced from 1 liter of unused vegetable oil and how much ethanol (or wood-based methanol) is required to make this amount of bio-diesel?
- What is the difference between BIO-DIESEL, Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) and Modified Used Vegetable Oil (MUVO)?
- How much vegetable oil is there to make bio-diesel?
