Posted on 07/31/2008 5:26:46 AM PDT by Red Badger
A Northamptonshire man destroyed his garage and badly injured himself at the weekend while attempting to make biodiesel from used cooking oil. A devastating explosion levelled the makeshift reprocessing plant on Saturday afternoon, when sparks from an electric drill being used to mix ingredients ignited explosive vapours.
Firemen hastened to deal with the smoking wreckage, in Middleton Cheney, and the unnamed thrifty motorist was airlifted to hospital with 20 per cent burns.
"Firefighters would like to urge members of the public to take extreme caution if undertaking such chemical mixtures in their own homes," said a statement from the Oxfordshire fire brigade, quoted by the BBC.
The injured biodiesel fancier reportedly made motor fuel from used cooking oil obtained from his local Chinese takeaway. Such oil can often be used in diesel vehicles without preparation, but this will typically knacker the engine in short order. It is normal to treat the oil with alcohol and other ingredients before use, and this process was apparently underway when the mishap occurred.
The explosion would most probably have been caused initially by alcohol fumes building up in the garage, a process likely enhanced by the hot weather this weekend. Open-air - or at least better-ventilated - biodiesel manufacture might have been wiser.
Home biofuel making is legal and tax-free to the amount of 2,500 litres per annum. With so much of the pump price of fuel being duty, such an effort is becoming more and more worthwhile to motorists as fuel costs soar. Quite apart from the risk of a devastating garage or garden-shed explosion, however - and the chance of then being mistaken for a terrorist - care is needed to avoid engine damage. ®
Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.....
If you want ON or OFF the DIESEL KnOcK LIST just FReepmail me.....
This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days.....
KnOcK!............Be careful with that drill, Eugene..........
I was trying to figure out why the Chinese came and got him, then I figured it out.
I blame Free Republic. All that ‘Drill here! - Drill now!’ stuff got to this bloke.
This is British English, not American English............
LOL!!!!!!! I hadn’t thought of that!..........
They must have run out of hyphens in the newsroom. ;-)
That headline looks like it was written by the Chinese.
And translated by Google.
Now, where did the Chinese take him, again?
Clever PF reference. Good work.
Naaaah. I guess not.
Air motor from Grainger: $136.50
Getting your house blowed up real good because you don't know what you don't know: Priceless.
“The explosion would most probably have been caused initially by alcohol fumes building up in the garage...”
“Hold my Scotch... Watch this!”
Fifteen minutes later, he was ready to mix another batch.
Newcastle.
I think in this case, it means to wear out. IOW, it will quickly bring the engine to End of Life.
I know, I refine my own and run as high as B100 or as little as 100% petrodiesel, according to my ability to process the crud oil. I try to make it a policy NEVER to start any electrical device when the methanol or meth and NaOH are open and my home-built processor is the closed "Appleseed" that mixes in a closed loop recirc pump.
I'm gonna brew up another batch tonight.
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