Biodiesel Refining Process

Believe it or not, you can run your car off the french fry oil from your local fast food restaurant--if you send it through the biodiesel refining process. The biodiesel refining process converts vegetable oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, animal fat and similar biological sources into biodiesel fuel. This is done through a process known as transesterification in which methanol and sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide (KOH) break down the fat molecules in the oil.

The biodiesel refining process may sound complex, but in fact it is quite simple when you have a biodiesel processor from EvolutionBiodieselKits.com. Our processors come complete with everything required to refine vegetable oil into fuel that’s ready to power any diesel engine. The resulting fuel is not only easy to make, it’s cost-effective, environmentally friendly and actually improves the life of your engine.

Breaking Down the Biodiesel Refining Process

Two of the most important steps in the biodiesel refining process are pre-heating and washing, and our processors handle both of them for you. Our processors are equipped with built-in heaters that heat the vegetable oil to a proper temperature in less than an hour. We also offer heaters as replacement parts or accessories.

After the fat molecules in the vegetable oil are broken down into biodiesel and glycerol and the glycerol is drained, the biodiesel needs to be washed and dried before use in a diesel engine. Our processors have built-in wash systems and heaters to dry the fuel. Unwashed biodiesel has some uses including to fuel heat lamps, but it is not recommended that you run a diesel engine off unwashed biodiesel.