Comprehensive Homebrew Biodiesel Class
March 13, 2004
At Biofuel Station, Laytonville, CA
instructor: Maria "Mark" Alovert


Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made from any plant oil and other fats.
It can be used in any diesel engine without modifications, and can be made
easily in your backyard.

Biodiesel greatly reduces emissions, is biodegradable, safe to handle,
safe to transport and store once made, and has a very positive "lifecycle
energy balance". It is currently produced worldwide on a commercial and
home scale. Because it is so easy to make, biodiesel is a viable
alternative for local, home-scale, farm- and village- scale energy production.

Come learn the ins and outs of making biodiesel fuel from used
restaurant fryer oil. There will be hands-on practice in making and testing
small batches of fuel, as well as demos of equipment, techniques, a
discussion of the biodiesel industry, co-operatives, and a related
discussion of how 'homebrew' techniques can be used as part of a solution
for community controlled energy. Optional textbook available for $7 (75 pages).

Bring a notebook and safety glasses if you have them, and a potluck dish
to share for lunch.

The following day, at Yokayo Biofuels in Ukiah, is the first meeting of the
Biodiesel Council of California, an alliance of consumers, producers, and
distributors for sustainable B100 biodiesel (www.biodieselcouncil.org)

The class will be held at Biofuel Station in Laytonville, Ca (Northern
Mendocino County, off of Hwy 101)
When: Saturday, March 13th, 2004
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m
Cost: $20-$50 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
$7 for optional 75-page textbook
To register: Paxfuel@... or Kimber: 707-984 6818
Instructor contact: Wrench@...
For other upcoming biodiesel workshops and events, please see:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/norcal-biodiesel-events


******************
Previous classes have covered the following curriculum:

Introduction/ overview:
- Biodiesel and straight vegetable oil- two different fuels
-Advantages and drawbacks of biodiesel fuel

Biodiesel chemistry:
- Biodiesel from virgin oil
- Biodiesel from waste vegetable oil
- KOH catalyst versus NaOH catalyst
- Two enemies of the reaction: free fatty acids, water
- Conditions and ingredients needed for reaction

Safety: methanol, lye, and safety equipment

Homebrew biodiesel demonstration:
- how to make 1-liter test batches
- washing intro

Hands-on student practice:
- Oil tests: testing for water content,
- titration- testing for free fatty acids content
- Students make liter batches
- Failures and quality control: 'glop' (soap), soapy fuel, and poor
conversion

Troubleshooting and testing:
-Acid value test (washed fuel)
-Reprocess test (unwashed fuel)
-Wash test (unwashed fuel)
-cloud point/gel point
-pH of unwashed fuel (rough indicator)
-soap test and catalyst test (unwashed fuel)
-Tests we don't recommend: specific gravity and viscosity


Hands-on: students make full size batch

Washing
-bubblewashing/mistwashing
-Using the wash as a form of feedback
-Troubleshooting emulsification
-Fixing emulsions

Equipment (as seen at www.veggieavenger.com/media ):
-Processor options: water heater-based, drums-based, generic plumbing for
any tank you find
-no-weld versus welded options
-regulations, safety, and containment
-Plastics and biodiesel
-The problems with existing 'kit' processors
-Wash tanks
-Heating options
-Standpipe tanks and dip tubes
-Pump types
-Circulating pump-based agitation, mechanical agitation
-Passive methanol/catalyst mixing versus mechanical catalyst mixing
-Carboy methoxide mixing systems
-homebuilt bubblewash aerators
-system layout for larger systems
-5-gallon systems

Glycerol:
-Removing methanol
-Free fatty acids recovery/glycerine purification
-Making soap
-Composting glycerine

Brief discussion of advanced topics:
-Acid-base two-stage method/pretreatment of free fatty acids
-Methanol recovery
-Additives
-Ethanol biodiesel

Conclusion:
-The commercial biodiesel industry, the NBB, and biodiesel consumer activism
-Decentralized energy production
-Where to go from here?
-Co-ops and homebrew 'cells'