Used Vegetable Oil for Biodiesel Production?

There is a lot of talk going on about by diesel production. But I'm quite sure that most people have no idea what the process involves. Simply put biodiesel production takes a product such as vegetable oil, just normal everyday vegetable oil, and turns it into a combustible product. How this is done, requires a little more technical talk and understanding. So here we go. To produce biodiesel requires a process in which the lipid transesterification converts a base oil in two esters or biodiesel.

In the production of biodiesel these products may be used:

1. Raw sewage-yes it's true, raw sewage can be used in a roundabout way to produce biodiesel. How this works is the sewage waste is used as a substrate for algae and then the algae is used to produce biodiesel.

2. The feedstock oil-currently soybean oil is being used to produce around 90% of available biodiesel fuel.

3. Animal fats-lard, chicken fat, yellow grease, tallow, and by products which come from producing omega-three fatty acids from fish oil.

4. Used vegetable oil-this has to be one of my favorites because it takes a product which has been used and which would just typically be thrown away and turns it into fuel.

Here is a quick rundown on how biodiesel fuel is produced. You need to dissolve a catalyst such as sodium hydroxide in alcohol. This mixture is combined with your vegetable oil, for example, an agitated in a large vat. This process takes two hours. This liquid then needs to sit for 12 to 24 hours and this is when the chemical reaction occurs. This chemical reaction creates the biodiesel and glycerin. The glycerin is separated from the biodiesel.

There is a new technology that is taking place that actually eliminates the mixing and standing time. In fact the technology is becoming so advanced that there may actually be no need for adissolved catalyst in the production of buyer diesel. It is truly amazing how the demand for certain products can ignite the imagination and the genius of technology via the human mind to create a product that can so fundamentally revolutionize the fuel industry.

The future for biodiesel production is looking better and better. Biodiesel production is clean, environmentally sound, and uses waste material. These three things alone make it a very fascinating topic to follow and possibly even invest in.