Biodiesel Titration

Biodiesel titration is a necessary part of biodiesel processing when using waste vegetable oil (WVO). This is the cheapest way to make quality biodiesel fuel because local restaurants will often allow you to take this oil from them for free, for a small fee or for the cost of the replacement buckets it's stored in. The only problem with using WVO is that it has been heated, which creates free fatty acids and causes it to be more acidic than straight vegetable oil (SVO).

When using SVO for biodiesel processing, the amount of sodium hydroxide needed for the process is 3.5 grams per liter standard. To neutralize the increased amount of free fatty acids in WVO, however, you need to use more sodium hydroxide--but it's important not to use too much. In order to determine the exact amount of sodium hydroxide needed, a process called titration is used.

Performing Biodiesel Titration

Biodiesel titration is a relatively simple chemical process that uses isopropyl alcohol, lye, phenolphthalein and distilled water to determine the pH of your waste vegetable oil and figure out how much sodium hydroxide will be needed as a catalyst for the biodiesel process. There are several different methods of titration you can research, but they should all produce the same results.

At EvolutionBiodieselKits.com, we provide our clients with detailed instructions for how to perform the necessary titration. While the products required for the titration process are readily available, we also provide a complete pre-assembled titration kit that comes with everything you need including the eyedroppers and measuring devices. If you have any questions about biodiesel titration or any other part of the biodiesel refining process, we are happy to answer them all.