What do I need to get started?

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It's Easy

If you have diesel engines (any diesel engines) and you want to reduce your fuel costs and run cleaner, the two most important things you require are

1. The Feedstock and
2. The Processor.

We make the best small-scale, fully automated biodiesel processor in the world (We really do). If you have access to inexpensive (ideally free) feedstock, your biodiesel experience will be profitable and enjoyable. What is feedstock? Any vegetable or animal oil (mineral oil will not work). Your collected feedstock must be 5% FFA or less*. Most of our customers collect used cooking oil that they collect from restaurants, schools, resorts, prisons, etc. and the vast majority of that oil is below 5% FFA.

The only other things you NEED are the chemicals used in the process and a water source (hose or barrel).

The chemicals you require for operating a BioPro 380 (our 100 gallon machine) are:
1. 20 gallons of methanol (99.9% pure)
2. 6.82 lbs of Sodium Hydroxide at a minimum of 98% purity. Or 10.35 lbs of Potassium Hydroxide at a minimum of 90% purity.
3. 380 ml of sulfuric acid (at least 93% pure)
4. 90 gallons of fresh water

In addition, you will need 220V single phase electricity
(If you have a BioPro™ 190, halve all of the volumes above. 110V single phase is the electrical requirement.)
The cost of ALL these inputs, including electricity, should fall short of $1.00/gallon.

Here are some other accessories that will make your biodiesel production process headache free:

1. Storage for your collected cooking oil
2. Storage for you finished biodiesel (some people store this in 300 gallon IBC totes… http://www.jmesales.com/department/2575/1/IBCs-Totes-Tank-Accessories.aspx )
3. A pump for pumping the oil from one barrel or tote to another.
4. A methanol pump (This makes the process of loading your processor a lot easier than using a hand pump. We sell this one: http://store.springboardbiodiesel.com/index.php?route=product/product&pr... )
5. Barrell filters: http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/
6. Go- no go kits. These help you to determine if your oil is within the 0-5% FFA range - http://store.springboardbiodiesel.com/index.php?route=product/product&pr... )
7. One or two 100 gallon fueling carts: (not required but handy, they roll on heavy duty casters so they are easy to move around the shop, and they come with their own fueling pump) http://store.springboardbiodiesel.com/index.php?route=product/product&pr...
8. Test kit for testing the quality of your finished biodiesel: http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/conversiontestkits.php
9. A chemical closet to store your chemicals.

* FFA (free fatty acid) is a measure of oil quality. The higher the FFA%, the less valuable the oil and the more difficult it is to turn into biodiesel. (Discovering an oil's FFA is done through a process called titration or via Springboard Biodiesel's go/no-go kit.)