Today I went out and got the rest of the stuff necessary for making biodiesel, which I plan on doing this weekend. I wasn't going to push it so hard, but after seeing the empty shelves where there used to be gas cans in several stores in Scottsdale, I decided that I might actually have no other option than to run my car on the homemade stuff - this due to hurricane Rita. I still did pretty well, and managed to dumpster dive for a couple of items.

The aquarium pump was the first item. I got it at Petsmart, with 25 feet of tygon tubing to make the bubbler, for less than $12. The next item I got was five gallons of methanol for $16.00 ($3.20 per gallon) from Speedway Fuels at 2300 W. Broadway. The fellow behind the counter there was also not optimistic about the future of fuel prices due to hurricane damage to the refineries. So then I looked up places where I could buy used polyethylene tanks. I bought a 55 gallon double-bunged drum for $10 at Valley Recycling on South 15th Avenue. I had to look through a lot of drums to find one that didn't have a lot of junk in the bottom. I also stopped at Apache Surplus on Apache near 7th avenue, and got a really nice 15 gallon polyethylene container for the WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil). It was also $10. I stoped by the car wash and got a 20 gallon polyethylene soap container to do the washing. It also has two threaded bungs. Then I went to Ace and spent $17 on all the PVC fittings and valves I need for this tank. That took a long time to figure out! Last, I picked up the WVO at Chop Wok. I had bought a yard of cheesecloth (69 cents) to strain the oil, but that turned out to be a messy process - I had made a funnel and a scoop out of two gallon milk jugs, and the cheesecloth wouldn't stay put. But, the oil (which was in a 55 gallon drum) had been sitting for so long that it was really clear. I could see absolutely no particulates in the oil. They also gave me an oil jug (which fits perfectly in the electric fry pan) for doing the reaction. Last, I stopped by the grocery store and picked up a can of Red Devil lye for $4.50.

The items I got from the dumpster were the milk jugs, and a nice one gallon water bottle for mixing the methanol and lye.

So, the expendable supplies cost $20.50, and the refinery parts cost less than $50. I will have to do at least a couple of batches to pay back my costs, but that doesn't seem like it will be very difficult.

This entry is just a log. I can't upload any photos right now as the site is changing servers, but I plan on posting a lot of pictures and explanations which will show how the rig is put together and how I do the process. It certainly would have been possible for me to save money by scavenging more containers, but right now I'm more concerned about being able to drive without waiting in long gas lines. I'm old enough to remember the "Oil Crisis" in the early seventies. There's only one place that sells biodiesel in the Phoenix area, and if people get desperate they may get over their biophobia.