Easy BEGINNERS guide to making a "BIODIESEL" powered car

Most People Don't realize A diesel engine can run on used deep-fryer oil

This by no means is a perfect method, or the best way to do it, just an easy Way to learn for beginners to get into this. Consider it a first step to living a GREENER life.

(this instructable is a continuing WIP so the more we share and learn the more it will be updated, please try to keep the criticism "constructive")

Step 1 Must have a deisel engine

As far as i know all diesel engines are capable of this. So if your car runs on diesel you're in luck.
Heres the v-dub tdi (turbo diesel injection) but others i know that have been done are Mercedes, Seat, Volvo, dodge, Chevy, Ford, Toyota, ect ect ect ect

So even if you don't have a diesel car, Take the one your driving now and trade it for a diesel car, its an investment in the earth and our future.

Comments

[aecológico]

hey man!! WVO (wasted vegetable oil) is a biofuel, BUT IS NOT BIODIESEL!!

For practical effects, you can add WVO (filtered of course) blended whit diesel to a diesel vehicle, BUT NO MORE THAN 30 - 40%. If weather is cold, no more than 10 - 20%.

To get biodiesel WVO needs some chemical proccess (http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/definitions/) , and you can use it 20%, 50% even 100% without modifying your vehicle.

[flyingchainsaw]

really? all you need to do is filter it?

[lbrewer42]

I have had enough people email me about this device of mine that I am going to copy/paste an email I sent to one of the people. It might digress - sorry. Maybe someday i will make an instructible out of this - it should be one! I was teaching chemistry in a Christian school when doing an electrolysis experiment. It hit me that I was breaking water into the two most combustible gases there are - so why not use it under the hood of the car? A current flowing through water breaks the water molecule apart into Hydrogen (H2) and Oxygen (O2). The more amperage, the more breakdown, therefore the more gasses produced. A catalyst helps the process. I have researched to find if anyone knows how this works (actual process - like from the electron's point of view) - but to no avail. However I do suspect it has something to do with the 3 dimensional shape of the water molecule - I have a theory - but that is not for here! Construction: Parts: Wal-Mart - 6 inch or so diameter clear plastic food container w/ hinged top and clipping front. Approx the height of a one liter bottle - the closing top has two layers to it with airspace in between. Dollar store - two stainless steel barbecue spoons/forks/or spatulas. Lowe's: - tube of silicon sealer, two bolts that will be long enough to go through both layers of the plastic container's lid and have some left over - enough to attach a wire to the top (using a wing nut). 4 nuts for the bolts and two wing nuts. I suggest stainless steel bolts/nuts (wing nuts need not be). - plastic or metal, hollow 90 degree-angle-bent tube from plumbing area - I chose one with threads on one end. - Plastic, sort of rigid, clear tubing that is long enough to reach down to the bottom of the plastic container if a hole was drilled through the top of the container and the tube inserted - leave enough room so there would be a little sticking out at the top - this is called the VENT TUBE. - plastic (or metal) T-connector - this will T into the air-line which your PCV valve attaches to the carb. or injector housing. Find this and see what size hose i uses. You wil need probably about 2 feet of this hose and a suitable T-connector for it. I put the silicon sealer around all bolts where they meet the plastic lid. This makes it more airtight. The more airtight the construction - the better. Overview: The two stainless utensils will be used as electrodes. They will be bolted to the inside top of the plastic container (the top will not be hinge-fit anymore - the hinge mechanism is one of a type you can easily pinch it to disassemble - unclamp the top of the lid, and lift).. The 90-degree-tube will be an oxygen and hydrogen outlet and is also attached to the lid such that it will allow air to enter the plastic container. The plastic, rigid tube will be inserted through the lid and made to go almost all the way to the bottom of the container. This plastic,rigid tube will be the air intake. The vacuum line from the PCV valve to the carb/fuel-injector-housing (whichever you have - probably the latter), is cut, the T connector is inserted, the 2 foot of tubing (or whatever length it actually takes you from this T-connector t where you mount the unit under your hood) is connected to the T-connector. The plastic container is filled with water and a tablespoon of Epsom salts. The top (with electrodes, 90-degree-bent-tube, vent tube, and attached electrodes) is inserted. A wire from one battery terminal is attached to one of the bolts sticking out of the top (hence connecting the stainless utensil) and a wire from the other terminal is attached t the other bolt. Theory of Operation: The vacuum line from the PCV/fuel injector assembly creates a vaccum in the plastic container - this pulls air in , through the water, from the vent tube. the battery is connected by wires to the electrodes and therefore electricity is used in splitting the water into Hydrogen and Oxygen (both highly combustible). These gasses are created as tiny bubbles off of the electrodes and rise to the top, impregnate the air there, an exits from the unit through the 90-degree-tube. These gasses seem to aid in the combustion of the gasoline in the engine (only 20% of your gas is actually burned in a normal engine - 80% is - literally - wasted!). I am not sure if they actually are aiding combustion or are taking the place of some of the gas and being burned themselves. I add 1 tbsp of Epsom salts, but was starting to experiment with other chemicals - these just aid in the breaking down of the water and therefore more gas is produced. I once tried to see if greater than a tablespoon made more gas - nothing seemed to change. Recently I have heard of people using baking soda - I want to try this. I also saw on a website that someone is, instead, coiling two wires around the inside of the container. It might make more gas this way - I use stainless b/c it does not seem to deteriorate as quickly - and the electrodes are cheap at $1.00 each! Construction: Drill two holes in the top at about the 3:00 and 9:00 positions for the electrodes. The bolts will extend down through these holes. The stainless utensils should have holes in the handles already - bend the hand over such that the hole will be able to be put onto the bolt. Put the utensil on the bolt and insert the bolt UP THROUGH the hole such that the threaded end is coming up through the top of the container. Put a nut onto the bolt and tighten it. Put a wing nut on the top of the bolt so that it will be able to hold a wire onto the bolt. Make sure the electrodes do not touch each other and are not so long they cannot fit into the assembled unit - cut off (or better - bend the extra so as to make more surface area for gas production - but make sure they are not close to each other or they short out during operation). After both electrodes are in place, drill a hole at 12:00 and at 6:00 n the top. Make sure that one of these will allow the vent tube to pass through and put it in place (silicon or whatever it takes to hold it there - my hole was just big enough to securely hold the tube). Insert the plastic tube so that its bottom is just off of the bottom of the plastic container when the unit is assembled. Insert the 90-degree-output-tube into the other hole (again, my hole was large enough just to thread the piece in with little effort). Attach the air hose to the 90-degree-output. Attach the other end of the hose to the T-connector. Attach one wire to the red battery terminal. Attach the other wire to the frame of the car (make sure it is a place where the paint will not inhibit electrical contact). The frame is attached to the other battery terminal - but i use the frame so there is o danger of creating a spark/explosion of the battery. When you attach the battery, you will start producing glass. Therefore I found a place (a fuse box is a good place to look) that was "hot" only when the car was running - I attached the wire from the electrode that WOULD have gone to the red battery terminal to this spot and therefore gas is only beinf produced when the engine is on. I have now seen similar devices selling online for up to $1200.00! I don't think just the gas companies are greedy! This should cost around 15.00 max to make. B/c of the day we live in I add you make this/use this at your own risk. This is jut a record of what I personally have done/used since 1998 or so! Sorry no pic - if I can get it off of the other HD - I will try to remember to send you a pic - please let me know how it goes - it is NOT as difficult as the explanation would seem to make it! Also, if you respond to this email, and I can get the pic, I believe I even have part numbers on the pic I made!

[cahoca]

If you are still out there, I'd love to hear an update on your project- thanks for sharing!

[lbrewer42]

I am still out here - but unfortunately me health condition nowadays I cannot get out and do the things I want to anymore. If you do some searching here on instructables for things like Hydrogen, electrolysis, you will find some good posts.

Well - there are a couple of diagrams I posted on the web one day:
start here:
http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=221355385
and click the "next" button in the upper right to see all 3 pics.

Also, I now that someone has made a circuit for something like 20.00 you can buy b/c the O2 sensor in cars might alter the way the engine is working when you start making/putting more O2 in. The circuit makes the computer ignore the extra O2 and so you get the mileage increase. I think that info is in instructables also.

And here is a link to a post on this topic that I think is the best I have seen:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hydroxy-Gas-Generator/

If I could get around like I wanted, this is probably what I would be trying next. I hope you can get one working.

[deth2all]

thanks....

[mahughesusa]

Hello, What mileage improvement are you seeing with your gas injection device? What type of vehicle are you using it on? In cold weather, is there any problem with its operation? Thanks, Mark

[lbrewer42]

During the winter I was in Erie, PA - the PA snow belt. Since I was using Epsom salts for the catalyst I had little trouble. Sometimes it was actually cold enough to freeze the salt water, but this just meant until the engine warmed the water up, there was no H2 and O@ being made. It was first on a, '83 (?) AMC 4WD Eagle. Then I had it on an '85 Chrysler. Health problems got in the way after that. The last vehicle I had it on was a '94 Olds Silhouette van. Anywhere up to 30% is average (it has been put on other friends cars). The Chrysler doubled its mileage from 200 miles on a tankful to 400 miles on a tankful. The Olds van had it on it for only one day before my son took it off for inspection (yearly here in PA). He dd not realize you simply need to disconnect only the one hose for it to pass PA standards which dictate a car will not pass inspection if it has a gas saving device on it - however, it is legal to install them! So I never got the mileage off of the van. My one friend who still sells the book i wrote about it says out of the feedback he has gotten, the average has been 35% increase on fuel injected or carb. cars. I know my one friend with an older AMC Jeep Cherokee was getting an unbelievable 67 mph. But he used the AC pump connected with the system to force feed the O2 and H2 in to the carb and not just rely on the engines vacuum to pull the gases in.

[jknickel]

Actually the correct definition for TDi is Turbo Diesel Intercooled. Most modern diesel engines have intercoolers to enable a higher mass of air to get into the engine at any given time. A lot of pick-up trucks don't have intercoolers hence the designation TD. Those without turbos just have a "D" in the designation.

All diesel engines are direct injection, it the only way to get the fuel to burn at the correct time. It doesn't work like a petrol (gasoline) engine which mixes the fuel with air at the intake. Diesel engines work with too much air, throttling is done by controlling the amount of fuel to burn, unlike petrol engines which require a precise mixture of fuel and air to burn properly. There is no butterfly in the intake to control the airflow in a diesel like on a petrol engine.

[greenseeker]

Minor correction: TDI stands for Turbo Direct Injection.

[misterwelder]

I have a '96 F350 with a 7.3L diesel and I have been running vegetable oil for over a year now. Beermkr is right about heating the oil in that it makes it much easier for the engine to pump, but at first I had no heater and the only problem that I encountered was a lack of proper filtering that clogged my fuel pump. One new fuel pump, two more inline filters, and a heat exchanger later, I'm rolling along making people hungry. Law

[scwirral]

I have also heard that untreated veg oil can damage the rubber seals and pipes in the fuel system. In general, the older the vehicle, the less damage is likely to be done. A friend of mine has a Landrover Discovery TDi and has sucessfully run a mix of pump diesel and filtered veg oil. Start with a small amount of veg oil in each tankful of diesel and increase the ratio on each fill. Problem is that you wont know the safe maximum ratio until you damage the car ;-( In this case, my friends car is worth about £1000 and his other car is a much more modern Mercedes E class diesel.... which he only runs on pump diesel.

[beermkr]

If you do this and run straight oil in your car you will destroy it. Veg oil is too think to be used without heating it or converting it to true biodiesel. If you use this instructable you will make an expensive injector pump or engine into a worthless piece of metal.

[Roknrol]

A bit late to the party, I know - how do you handle the odor that this used oil produces? I've got an old truck that I've considered converting to diesel to capitalize on this, but my wife says that it isn't gonna happen unless we can do something about the smell. Unfortunately, it's a wasted project to start on unless I can solve that problem to start with or I'll be in the doghouse for months. Any suggestions?

[AnarchistAsian]

ha ha
my school is doing a production of grease soon!

[Derin]

who here has a vw?

[deth2all]

Vanagon.....

[specopps117]

methanol needed?

[abadfart]

thanks I've been looking for something like this gas is just to damn expensive you could make a heater under the hood like this http://www.instructables.com/id/Waste-Veggie-Oil-Heater/?ALLSTEPS
then hook up a soler charger to the battery and put a on off switch on the dash

[theRIAA]

yay! it should be said though, that store bought biodiesel produces more emissions than diesel (witch is cleaner than 87 octane BTW) after production emissions, and higher cost to the consumer are taken into account. plus it raises the cost of food. and while it may be a great idea to do this, in about 4 years or so, you will be paying more for junky grease from McDs, then for gas (which will be like $5/gal) new battery technologies, motorcycles, and small engine vehicles FTW!

[JeremyA]

This is a tired argument and is really in my opinion very subjective. When I produce my BioDiesel the emmisions are neglegable. Since the process only requires methanol, lye, and vegetable oil there is really no direct emissions in the process. One could argue that the methanol being made produces emissions as well as how it is transported. The electricity I use for my mixers and pumps does (for the time being) require coal powered electricity. These all however all apply even more so for oil pumped out of the ground in the middle east and shipped to my local filling station. Not to mention the wars, corruption, and environmental turmoil caused by subsidized oil production. We have more than enough land in the world that is going unused or is used unproductivly to produce food that will not be bothered by BioDiesel production. It would be possible using soy beans (which are not my first choice for BioDiesel production but just as an example) to produce enough BioDiesel for our countries needs in an area about the size of Rhode Island. My favorite way to produce BioDiesel is the algae method, which can be researched on your own. I find it funny that people are so quick to repeat sound bites and half researched remarks about food shotrtages and Biofuels (which are generally talking about that joke of a fuel called ethanol)but fail to ever complain about the epidemic of fast track McMansion houses creeping up all over the country, devaluing pre-existing real estate and taking up valuable farm land. It is true that as land becomes more valuable the market will adjust. As more people start using waste vegetable oil, the market will adjust. People who get in sooner rather than later will see that land, crop futures, and BioFuel companies they invested in will pay off if they are vigilant and mindful of thier investments. People who just try to fight the natural progression of technology will be left holding their...anyhow, I agree that small engines, aerodynamic vehicles, mass-transportation, hybrid-diesel technologies, human powered and light electric vehicles will all be key in creating more sustainable transportation of the future.

[lbrewer42]

Raises food prices? The oil is used after the food is cooked in it. It is presently a waste product that is thrown into the garbage. Hopefully the people who have to PAY to get rid of this oil will learn that charging $$ for it will reduce interest in it - especially if it rivals gas prices. I am not sure how you say it will raise prices if people use the waste products. Yes, if they start making vegetable oil just to use as fuel w/out cooking with it first - then there could be a price increase. Electric cars have little power in hilly terrain. I came from such a terrain where the hybrid car owners were not happy b/c they found they were not saving as much as they thought. They needed more gas than they thought they would use.

[theRIAA]

"store bought biodiesel" as in stuff from the pump. <<

[lbrewer42]

Sorry for making a confusing point about the electric cars. As to government made bio-diesel, I have to wonder if they would make laws so no one could produce it except them? I know I have seen media/propaganda saying B-D and ethanol are almost the same cost to make as gasoline. It might be so (why?) for a large factory. But individuals can make either one for a lot less money. The farmers (ones who know) also say we can make ethanol from hybrids corn that will NOT cut into our food supply. Another interesting thing is that supposedly, Brazil converted largely over to ethanol in the 90's. If they can do it - there is no reason why America cannot. We feed the world and have plenty of wasted food each year. Even from local farmers. For that matter - grass clippings can be used to make ethanol. Not as efficiently as other things, but it can be done!

[theRIAA]

the government doesn't make bio-diesel, they subsidize (pay assloads of cash) to farmers that make crops that can be turned into fuel. then those farmers sell the crops (at lower than average prices) to fuel making companies >>> lower cost of biofuel = incentive to "be green".
meanwhile hundreds of farmers are switching from making food crops, to bio fuel crops, lowering the supply of food (raising the cost).

hence, those hybrid crops take land from real food crops (YES, there is a limited amount of farmable land!)

america CANNOT EVER convert over to the majority of it's population over to biofuels. Even if we planted the most efficient/acre bio-crop (wheatgrass or algae i think... something like that) in EVERY farm land in the US, we would still not be even close to meeting the demand for fuel.

furthermore, corn crops are horrible for bio-fuel. even potatoes are better.

bio-fuels are interesting, but electric cars are still the future.

omg... i just realized how kick ass it would be to run a lawnmower off grass clippings...

[JeremyA]

Your comment about the united states not being able to produce enough Biofuels to meet our own demand is preposterous. I want to see your sources. This is a flat out non-truth. Please stop repeating it unless your can provide sources.

[theRIAA]

I've read it online and in the Economist numerous times. here it is from one Economist article "In the meantime, the motor industry is pinning its hopes on biodiesel. But growing crops for fuel instead of food is becoming politically difficult in many parts of the world. Besides, biodiesel’s contribution using traditional crops will be modest at most. It’s a matter of scale. Europe has over 10m metric tons and America around 4m metric tons of biodiesel capacity. Compare that with the 490m metric tons of diesel that Europe and America consumed between them last year. To meet just America’s one-third share would require all the arable land in the country (some 470m acres) be planted with soybeans for biodiesel." ...

[JeremyA]

I agree that the real production of biodiesel will not be from conventional crops so we agree there. I however do not agree with the economist as to how much land would be necessary. When I fee like arguing this more I will dig up some information I have. I contest this highly and don't really give a crap what the economist says. Here is a place we all of you can do more research.
National BioDiesel board

[membrane]

Most of the recent food cost increase is due to transport costs. I'll agree corn is not an idea biofuel unless you can make sure all the distillery grains are reused as animal feed which is the primary use of grain in the US. The bad thing even though they are better animal feed then the original grains distillery grains do no keep well because of moister content. Better options would be cellulosetic ethanol from crop wastes and garbage plus algae based biodiesel. These options can easily replace all imported oil in the US if you don't believe it then just search for numbers. A lot of crop waste is well wasted ie burned off etc vs used as fuel this is many times the mass of the food produced. Also unsuitable food also can be used to make fuel and a lot of grain just gets thrown away but it's still perfectly good for making fuel. We have to be very careful of what the news says today they tend to blow any problem completely out of proportion to get a good story. Lastly the oil companies are extremely corrupt the present prices are mostly a fabrication the smoking gun is in their profit margins. There is nothing too low for them to say and do to try to keep us hooked on oil imports.

[lbrewer42]

The lawnmower off of grass clipping has been something I had thought of - just toyed with! Personally, I admit i am just taking a good guess. But in the 70's it was said 40% of Soviets were farmers and could not feed themselves (Communism failure) & 4% of the US were farmers and we fed the world. I saw an agricultural add in a magazine (may have been Popular Mechanics - maybe not) where they weresaying they have a hybrid of corn that would nore than supply what we need for ethanol and not affect the food crops. I have been/live in farm country all of my life. It is sickening tpo me how much waste i have seen. As just ONE example, there was a literal mountain of potatoes that was dumped each year in a remote (large) field - and left to rot. The smell in the area for quitesome time afterwards was horrendous. THis occurs all over. Out farmng technologies, I personally believe, are more than competent to deal with the ethanol needed. Just like people are recycling now, we could all be using compost, grass clippings, etc. Again, I really beleive the main thrust against ethanol has been that it will take away the $$ the govt. makes on taxes on fuel. Plus the oil companies do not want it. They are profiting too much. Just as a thought here - gasoline is a byproduct of refining - we know this - but it is after the satge where a lot of plastics are made. So if the price of gasoline goes up so much, how come plastic bottles, etc. stay the same price? They too should be fluctuating. One week a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi would be .99 and the next 1.99! Hydrogen on demand is also a good suplemental boost to a car's system. I made it years ago and was using it for a long time. i went from 200 miles in a tank to 400 miles in a tank. The parts cost me 7.00 at Wal-mart (and dollar store) - about 10-12.00 today. It has one connection - a T connector to a hose. Easily taken out. I live in PA where there is an annual inspection required. I found it was illegal to have any gas saving device approved at an inspection. It is not illegal to have one -the car just cannot have it on when inspected. It is illegal for me to install one in anyone else's car. They try to get us no mater what. there are cheap ways to make our cars better/cleaner. The plain facts are that the powers that be want out money. In 1988 when the UN dreamt up the global warming theory as a way to try to move towards a global economy (they figured they needed a starting point an the environment was non-political ebnough - at THAT time - that they figured they could unify on this subject) - they said they needed to get the economy of the US down to the rest of world standards. They have been/are succeeding in this. Gas prices have always been the way to slow the economy.

[deepbluejazz]

Can you tell me how to do this??????

[theRIAA]

i give up, you win

[lbrewer42]

Win? I am really sorry! I did not realize it was an argument! I was just having a friendly discussion. This has always been an area of interest to me and i appreciate talking with others about it.

[Bubbler]

Dr. Diesel invented the engine to run on vegetable, so this is really not the latest news. He could see the need for running engines when petroleum would not be available. As stated by JeremyA, you need to have the two tanks, which of course will allow you to travel a lot further before refueling, but you will have to heat the French Fries Oil before you can switch over to that tank to supply the engine with fuel. It is a great idea, and I believe the vehicle does leave behind a whiff of french fries . . . chips.

[JeremyA]

I don't intend any offense by this, but this instructable is leaving out HUGE and very important steps to this process. As a BioDieseler who has been doing it for years, as well as a SVO user, I recomend doing much more research than this before following any of this advice. Generally if you are going to run straight vegetable oil or SVO in a vehicle you want two tanks. One with SVO and one with Diesel or BioDiesel. You will need to you the D or BD before shutting off the engine to clear out the lines. It is also generally necessary to have heated lines as well as tank heaters. There are two ways to thin down the vegetable oil for use in a diesel engine. One is with heat, the other is with a chemical process which is what BioDiesel is. A good site to learn more about this is A Journey to Forever

[deth2all]

Like i said, this is essentially a BEGINNERS guide, promoting awareness on the simplicity of it, letting others know they can achieve this easily

[JeremyA]

I appreciate what you are trying to do by spreading the word. Every voice we have is valuable in this movement, however I feel it is very important to list the pros with the cons lest we destroy the credibility of BioDiesel and SVO. I live in Ohio and if I were to simply filter any old used oil through a sock and put it in my Jetta, I would run into problems almost immediately. This doesn't even take into account that once I shut off my engine, the fuel lines will congeal with the higher viscosity vegetable oil if I don't run some Diesel or BioDiesel through them first. Please don't think I am trying to shoot you down. I just want to make sure people don't try this and hopelessly clog their fuel lines. Please also state if you actually do this on a regular basis in your vehicle and what climate you live in. It's always good to have one more in the BioDiesel SVO ring.

[drinkmorecoffee]

This is not Biodiesel. This is called a SVO (straight vegetable oil) system. It is true you don't need any engine modifications in warm months, but you will need a block heater in the cold months, or you can do what killerjackalope suggested and blend some regular diesel in. Biodiesel requires a chemical reaction. It takes an oil (like in this i'Ble) an alcohol (methanol or ethanol) and a catalyst (KOH or NaOH). Also, it's a good idea to filter your WVO down to about 10 microns. A sock is a bit more than that. (if you absolutely don't want to spend any money cut off the leg of some denim jeans, roll a few inches of it up, sew it real tight, and filter through that. It'll take longer, but you really want to get as many particulates out as you can.) Keep it up and good luck!

[freehand]

though this might work for a while, it also may damage your engine. before you start pouring waste vegetable oil (wvo) into your tank, do some homework.

here's a good start
http://www.joshtickell.com/books_films.htm
http://www.veggievan.org/links.html

and riaa almost had it correct. using biodiesel actually reduces emissions. and as far as what the future holds, who knows? converting your diesel vehicle to run on wvo, or using biodiesel, is a good start.

keep up the good work in progress.

[cokecola]

I just want make sure I am understanding you correctly. Are you saying filter the oil and then use without any processing?