Explain Biodiesel for me?

Hi everyone, new here
I own an 85 F250 with the 6.9 idi and I have been wanting to make my own fuel as I have access to a huge amount of motor oil.
Now,
I have read so much conflicting information, and watched so many videos that nothing is really making sense. Some people say you cant use motor oil at all, others say you have to go through a whole chemical process, others say just filter oil and dilute with gas.
Could anyone point me to some reliable resources that I could go over to properly educate myself on, or give me a 101 guide to look into?
Thank you all.
Apologies if this has been asked before, but I was unable to find an existing thread.

If your serious Amazon has some good books on the subject. Here is one that was written by some of the instructors when I went through bio Diesel class 17 years ago. Maria Altovert, aka GirlMark, was my primary instructor. She was one of the pioneers of the industry in Oakland, California and the inventor of the popular Appleseed process that was used extensively back in the late 2008 - 2009 timeframe.


As I recall there are basically three different categories of alternative diesel fuels. They are straight waste vegetable oil, a.k.a. WVO, filtered Motor oil a.k.a. WMO, and bio Diesel, which is made from Plant based oils that are used in the Restaurant industry.

Of the three true bio Diesel is typically the highest quality and most consistent fuel but you have to go through a reactor process in order to make it. The most basic bio Diesel set up will use a house water heater as a reactor. you will need to purchase some chemicals for production, including lye and methanol.

The easiest method is probably running straight, filtered waste vegetable oil.

You mentioned having Surplus engine oil, that is not technically a bio Diesel because it did not come from a plant source. Bio Diesel typically produced from waste oil from Restaurant fryers. And there’s different qualities and desirable for your waste of vegetable oil source that will make different grades of fuel.

The book above will help explain the bio Diesel productions methods.

When I went through the bio Diesel course, the instructors were not very supportive of using waste Motor oil as a fuel source. They felt that of the three different choices you have the most accelerated wear on your Injection system with WEO versus SVO or BD.

Just search WMO on this site...... yes, everyone has an opinion and like noses, they all smell...... ive ran waste oil for 5yrs..... IT IS NOT FOR THE FEINT OF HEART!!!! Theres no easy "one size fits all" answer.... some do it as a hobby because its neat..... others do it for a certain practicality, ive done it basically because i live financially below the poverty line and its been a tactful way to reallocate funds to buy food and pay bills...... the learning curve is a u-turn...... ive loved it, but im weird, poor, and like experimenting with stuff..... @Black dawg has some inspiring (read that "cautiously uninsirational") words to say about it.... but he like me has done it and lived the WMO life, @kbenz is a serious WMO producer that "lives it"...... you CAN do it, ive never had IP issues, but ive definitely stuck some rings and melted some pistons from high EGTs..... you WILL "pay a price" for "free fuel"...... you WILL sit on side of the road waiting for your wife to come pick you up....... but if you're serious about and you got a certain mettle about yourself thats basically unstoppable......then by all means ROCK ON!!!.....but if little inconveniences really upset you, dont bother....... seriously....

P.S. not a subject that I approach lightly, lol....

JF - glad to see someone chime in that has real world experience with WMO.

Back when I took the Biodiesel class I figured that it would cost me around .60 per gallon to make a high quality BD, presuming that I had a free source of WVO to make it from.

scsmith42 said:

JF - glad to see someone chime in that has real world experience with WMO.

Back when I took the Biodiesel class I figured that it would cost me around .60 per gallon to make a high quality BD, presuming that I had a free source of WVO to make it from.

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I sourced all the waste oil for free obviously, but the gold is rotten gas out of motorhomes and boats for thinning...... it makes the exhaust smell sweet, and the engine purrrrr.....

Edit: It have no idea how much I saved/lost or anything cost...... but i know its been a wild ride of fascinating learning experience.

P.S. there will be nay sayers....lol

Thanks for the link. I've considered getting into using WVO and brewing some BD, or at least cutting filtered WVO with diesel. I've heard the stories about excessive wear on injectors and IP. Now would be the time for me to do it since I just rebuilt my injectors and have the OE IP (or at least the one that came in the truck).

FWIW, it's a scientifically proven fact that my Bullnose truck idles better running ATF. Why not WMO?

Godspeed
And

I dont even know what to say about wmo anymore, other than....it is not free....but it will still save huge amounts of money even with worn parts over time. If you are able to fix stuff yourself, there is a lot to learn.

Fuel system parts are expensive for these now, 1k+ dollar injection pumps (which I believe is a joke, driven by the boutique builders....), but even at that, if my truck was running right now, I would be using 50/50 wmo/diesel.

Funny, there was a facebook post not long ago about wmo use, with every single person claiming completely trouble free usage of wmo in db2 trucks. Even one of the 1k+ dollar injection pump builders saying that it is completely fine to run wmo through them.

Black dawg said:

I dont even know what to say about wmo anymore, other than....it is not free....but it will still save huge amounts of money even with worn parts over time. If you are able to fix stuff yourself, there is a lot to learn.

Fuel system parts are expensive for these now, 1k+ dollar injection pumps (which I believe is a joke, driven by the boutique builders....), but even at that, if my truck was running right now, I would be using 50/50 wmo/diesel.

Funny, there was a facebook post not long ago about wmo use, with every single person claiming completely trouble free usage of wmo in db2 trucks. Even one of the 1k+ dollar injection pump builders saying that it is completely fine to run wmo through them.

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Getting old and running WMO isn't for wimps........ does that sound about right? Lol

Jesus Freak said:

Getting old and running WMO isn't for wimps........ does that sound about right? Lol

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I am sure there is something to that.....

Just hate to see somebody that relies on a truck to be running oil through it cause the internet said it is perfectly safe and causes no issues, because that isnt the whole truth.

Black dawg said:

I am sure there is something to that.....

Just hate to see somebody that relies on a truck to be running oil through it cause the internet said it is perfectly safe and causes no issues, because that isnt the whole truth.

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Absolutely......that's why I have my "form letter" response to when the subject comes up...... you CAN'T approach it lightly, but if you're serious..... it CAN be done, and it can be quite alright, especially if you have certain failure worked into your equation..... and hey, thanks for chiming in.

A couple of comments. If you plan to run a lot of WMO, a centrifuge is a good investment because it removes stuff that passes right through a filter. The stuff that wears your injectors, rings etc.
On the subject of vegetable oil, some people run filtered WVO. The best way to do that is a two tank system with the WVO tank being heated by the exhaust, engine coolant or both. Start on diesel, switch to WVO once it's fully heated, then switch back to diesel several minutes before you shut down. Some engines don't do well on WVO.
Real biodiesel may have started out as WVO or as new plant oil. Either way it is cleaned and processed with lye and methanol to remove acids, glycerin and other stuff. You can run it mixed with diesel fuel (petrodiesel) in pretty much any diesel engine, and some engines are happy with it all the way to 100 percent. Maybe not in winter, though.
In older diesels, some percent of biodiesel is good because it lubricates your IP. Say, B5 minimum.
Also be aware that once you start running any significant amount of biodiesel you will need to change all of your fuel filters pretty soon because it is a good cleaning agent and will pack your filters with stuff it cleans out of your tank and lines.

One last thing. This is hearsay because I haven't verified it, but I have heard that running WMO and WVO at the same time is very bad. I don't know if that also applies to biodiesel.

I've run B20 from the pump before in my Bullnose truck. It runs fine.

Here in OK you can get B20 at Love's on the interstate.