Extreme Biodiesel Titration Calculator
Enter values in white cells to determine how much stuff you’ll need and your price per gallon or liter.
1 Enter values and assumptions here
Be sure to choose the correct Catalyst. For NaOH (lye) the base is set to 3.50%. Following are some recommendations, please use them as you see fit.
| NaOH | the base amount of catalyst needed | |
| KOH | the base amount of catalyst needed | |
| Methanol | use this much methanol for each unit of oil | % |
Suggested Titration level values (NaOH Only): 0.1 to 1.0 Titration result - You can use anywhere from 2.75% to 3.0% of NaOH and be confident you will get a good reaction
1.0 to 2.0 Titration result - You can try 3.0% up to 3.5%
2.0 and up to 4.0 Titration result - You should use 3.5% as a base and up to 4.0%
3.0 to 7.0 Titration result - You should use 5.0%
Suggested Titration level values (KOH Only): Standard rule for KOH is a 7.00% base for virgin oils and a “perfect world” scenario. If you have really clean oil that titrates below a 2.0, you may try and lower this base amount. We at Extreme Biodiesel only use between 12 to 14% depending on our titration. 13.0 seems to be the ideal target. You will know your target amount by doing a 3/27 or 27/3 test. You can view a video of the procedure here: 27/3 Methanol Test.
Click here to see a formula on KOH (Potassium Hydroxide/Caustic Potash) TITRATION: KOH Recipe.
Methanol %: Since methanol prices have sky rocketed, it has become a critical point in Biodiesel production. If you are using Lye and you have a clean oil (below 1.0 titration result) you can use as little as 16%. From what we have experienced here, we have never gone below the 15% mark. You can try to go lower but do not exceed 12%, as a minimum. The average base amount is 20%, but using 17 to 20 % for oil that titrates at 1.5 and below is common.
2 Choose your Catalyst
Be sure to choose the correct Catalyst here and its Purity. It is set for 99.0%, which is common for the purity of Lye. If you use KOH be sure to get the level of purity from the supplier. KOH flake form technical grade is common at 90% to 91%. Therefore, your purity box should read the same.
| 3.50 grams per liter of oil | ||
| Purity of your catayst | % |
3 Titration Values
This is where you enter the amount of titration solution used in your oil sample test. Don’t forget to divide the KOH test by 4 and put in that number here.
| Enter the value you determined by titration |
4How much oil are you starting with?
Be sure to toggle between the liters and gallons depending on what you want to use.
| I’m going to use this much oil |
5The Recipe:
Be sure to read the correct categories such as Liters or Gallons, as well as, Grams vs. Ounces
| Liters | … or, the equivalent in gallons | |
| METHANOL | 75.71 | 20.00 |
| Grams | … or, the equivalent in ounces | |
| NaOH | 1,911.82 | 67.49 |
6 How much does this batch cost you?
| Cost | This Batch | |||
| Methanol | Your price per gallon | $ | 43.00 | |
| NaOH | Your price per pound | $ | 3.25 | |
| Oil | Your price per gallon | $ | ||
| Total: | 46.25 |
| Quantity | Gallons or liters (from oil # above) | ||
| Useable fuel: | Enter the actual amount of biodiesel you produced | Gallons | |
| Your yield, as a percentage of oil used, was: | 0.95 |
Your cost per gallon:
$0.49- or -
Your cost per liter:
$0.13
