Biodiesel: from grease to diesel
“In this short video, Chef Jose Duarte of Taranta in Boston’s historic North End, demonstrates how recycled cooking oil goes from frialator to fuel tank to run the restaurant’s truck. Leftover oil from his kitchen and a neighboring restaurant provide Jose with enough fuel to make it from Boston to Gloucester to pick up the daily catch he serves in his green-certified restaurant.”
“What [we're witnessing] is the initiation of Maine jumping into the fuel business in a way we have never been able to do before, because we can make biofuel in Maine. This is the beginning…”
“Arnold said if Maine were to make use of its used fryolator oil, vegetable crop and considerable wood resources, the state would have the potential to produce slightly more than 200 million gallons of biofuel annually, or about one third of Maine’s current diesel need.”
“Another key, he said, is making the public aware that biofuel is an option and that it can have clear economic benefits for the state, as well as environmental benefits global in scope.”
“Biofuel simply recycles carbon dioxide that already is present in the vegetable source, Arnold said, and thus, unlike fossil fuels, places no additional strain on the environment.”
“Replace diesel with biofuel, he said, and you reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and thereby help combat global warming.”
“I think the easy answer (for creating a larger demand for biofuel) is more education and ready availability (of biofuel),” he said, “and they kind of go together. Fuel stations will want to carry this fuel when they are assured that people will buy it.”
PROCESS:
“The process of turning waste fryolator oil into biofuel — called transesterification — actually is less complicated than you might suspect.
At Bean’s facility, the first step is to heat 1,000 gallons of waste fryolator oil. Once heated, the oil is transferred to a second tank, where a catalyst — made in a third tank from methanol and caustic soda — is gravity-fed into and blended with the oil using an industrial-strength mixer.
This mixture is then transferred into one of three holding tanks and left to settle for at least 24 hours. During that process, a largely benign byproduct called glycerin settles to the bottom, while the nearly pure biofuel floats above.
This biofuel then goes through a few more filters and, finally, through a centrifuge, which essentially is a high powered spin cycle, that filters out any remaining particles.”
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