How to make biofuel
Ethyl esters -- making ethanol biodiesel
Making ethyl-esters biodiesel using ethanol is a tricky process, not as simple as making methyl esters with methanol. It's not for novices -- learn how to make biodiesel with methanol first.Methods and recipes for ethyl-esters biodiesel are available here, along with a How-To from a master home-brewer who has been making and using his own ethyl-esters biodiesel for years.
See: Ethanol biodiesel
Reclaiming excess methanol
Depending on the kind of oil you're using, it takes from 110-160 millilitres of methanol per litre of oil to form the methyl esters molecule. But you also need to use an excess of methanol to push the conversion process towards completion -- the total amount of methanol used is usually 20% or more of the volume of oil used, 200 ml per litre or more.Much of the excess methanol can be recovered after the process for re-use, simply by boiling it off in a closed container with an outlet leading to a simple condensor.
Methanol boils at 64.7 deg C, 148.5 deg F, though it starts vaporizing well before it reaches boiling point.
Unlike ethanol, methanol does not form an azeotrope with water and relatively pure methanol can be recovered -- pure enough to re-use in the next batch.
The methanol can be recovered at the end of the process, or just from the glycerine by-product layer, since at least 70% of the excess methanol collects in the by-product and it's that much less material to heat.
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