Oil
boilers are perhaps the most common type of domestic heating equipment in many
parts of the world, but relatively few of their owners know that these boilers
can also burn biodiesel other than oil.
Biodiesel is a natural, renewable, alternative fuel for diesel engines produced from vegetable oils such as corn oil, soybean oil or sunflower oil. It contains no mineral oils and is non-toxic and biodegradable. Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine with no or minimal modifications, and its primary effect on the engine that burns it is the excellent lubrication of it, because it acts as a solvent that cleans the machine. If the engine was previously running on conventional fuel oil, it may be necessary to change the fuel filters until the residues left by the oil are removed.
According to the above, it is
easy to understand that heating oil boilers installed in homes can also burn
biodiesel instead of oil. In any case,
precautionary measures should be taken by checking the fuel filters after the
first hours of operation with mixed or pure biodiesel (B100). When using only
B100, it is possible some feed pipes to deteriorate and may need to be
replaced. This is not the case for the newer boilers designed for low-sulfur
fuels, as these boilers are compatible with biodiesel.
It turns out that when an domestic
oil boiler owner has the ability to produce biodiesel alone, then the heating
cost of his household is drastically reduced, as biodiesel production costs
much less than heating oil on the market. Indicatively, biodiesel production
may cost around $0.20 per liter if there is a way for the biodiesel producer to
find vegetable oils free of charge. The indicative price mentioned above
includes the cost of chemicals used in the production of biodiesel (methanol,
NaOH), as well as the electricity required for a domestic production scale.