FAQS
WHAT IS BIODIESEL?
Biodiesel is a renewable alternative to mineral based diesel. It is made from plant oil or animal fat. The process to make biodiesel is called trans esterification, where the oil is reacted with an alcohol to make an ester (biodiesel) and glycerine.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
SA Biofuels supplies the complete system to you. The more fuel you make the cheaper the fuel becomes. For a user of 500,000L per year fuel production costs would be around $0.64 per litre*.
*- Pricing is subject to change, price given is for a certain case
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
The Biodiesel Processing unit the Bio-ULTRA, the oil extraction unit if required, all the consumables (excluding seed or oil) to produce the fuel.
WHAT ELSE DO IT NEED?
To make your own fuel using our system, you will require storage tanks for the fuel, area enough to locate the equipment and to move around. Also, you will need grain and or oil storage. We recommend using IBCs to store the oil and fuel in as it’s a good and easy way to keep track of it. The Bio-ULTRA requires power, a single 10A outlet is sufficient.
WHAT OIL / SEED CAN BE USED?
Any virgin plant based oil can be used and some recycled vegetable oil*. The seed which the whole system can use is any oil seed such as canola, safflower, soybeans, industrial mustard and many more. We recommend industrial mustard or canola as it produces the heist quality fuel.
* – Recycled vegetable oil must be to a similar quality as virgin plant oil (FFA, water content, sediment)
HOW MUCH CAN I MAKE?
The standard unit can produce up to 1.3ML of biodiesel per year, we can make a larger or smaller unit to suit your requirements.
HOW MUCH OIL/SEED DO I NEED?
If you have virgin oil, one litre of oil makes one litre of biodiesel. Whilst seed is a hard to say, it all depends on the oil content of the seed. For example, industrial mustard which has an oil content of 33% this means one tone of seed will make 300L of biodiesel.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?
Our system is a continuous production; it can work 24/7. Once commissioned the unit makes 150L of biodiesel per hour.
HOW BIG IS IT?
The Bio-ULTRA comes in two varieties, in a 3 module bricks or enclosed in a 20-foot container. The floor space for the 3 modules is 6m x 2.5m, need a minimum ceiling height of 3.5m. The oil extraction unit comes containerised in two 20-foot containers.
WHERE CAN I USE THE FUEL?
The biodiesel produced from the Bio-ULTRA meets the Australian Fuel Standard, this means you can use it in any diesel vehicle or stationary engine. Both New Holland and Case have openly said they have no issue with users running their equipment on biodiesel.
HOW GREEN IS IT?
Biodiesel has lower environmental emissions than Low Sulphur Diesel (LSD) for example biodiesel produced 70% less carbon dioxide* and monoxide than LSD. Biodiesel also produces less hydrocarbon emissions and particulate matter which accounts for 70% of smog. The CSIRO have stated that plant based fuels such as ours are carbon neutral.
* – Facts and figures from EPA (USA) report on Biodiesel usage