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. ®
If you use it, make sure you say it with a crisp British accent.
Sure the poor fellow was burned and his garage destroyed, but think of much he saved on biodiesel!
Right-o, ol’ chap!
Saving the planet, one exploded garage at a time.
This is the UK, so it's, "Hold my GIN... Watch this!”...............
You are correct. My apologies.
I don’t see how they can drink that stuff.............
Someone set us up the bomb.
All your sesame oil are belong to us.
Some homebrewers reportedly use the drill with a paint stirrer attachment to agitate the oil while mixing the combined methanol and lye in the processor. It’s like dynamite with the fuse already lit.
Both methanol and methodide are extremely explosive. Any electrical sparks - even from switches or blown lights ought be avoided. I use all coiled flourescents in my open processor shelter and I mounted all my switches or switching devices at eye level since the fumes travel close to the ground.
A small capacitor across the switch terminals will “snub” any sparks from the switching process..........0.1uF 1000V would work..........
NO MSG!..................
A neighbor left some rags that had been soaked with cooking oil sitting in the back seat of his car while it was parked overnight in his driveway a couple of summers ago.
Heat inside the car apparently caused spontaneous combustion of the rags. Buh bye car. If he’d parked the car a couple or three feet closer to the garage, the house could have been lost as well.
The headline is terrible. “Chinese takeaway” for “Chinese take out” gives the reader the impression the Chinese hauled him away for blowing up a garage with biodiesel.
It prolly could happen, though...
I don’t think it’ll keep the brushes from sparking on the rotor, though - especially when the drill is under load and the brushes are worn, or will it?
Many home brewers use second-hand items in their process - me suspects his drill was worn..
Not much can be done for the drill motor’s sparks. He should use a vent fan for a few minutes before drilling.................
Not too smart on a couple of fronts. First, he should have have adequate ventilation for his project, and second, you don't use an electric drill, especially one that sparks (!) to mix the lye and methanol with the cooking oil. It's a dangerous process, and you have to study the correct procedures for making biodiesel and follow all necessary pre-cautions to keep things like this from happening.
WHAT HAPPEN?
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