In a nutshell yes. Granted, you would not have pure Sodium Hydroxide, more than likely you would have some Potassium Hydroxide ( not necessarily a bad thing ) as well, depending on the wood type you burn ( hardwoods tend to have more Potassium, than softwoods ), and perhaps other salts in minor amounts, but what you would have, is basically lye.
To know how strong it is, you would have to test it against lye of a known value, this can be done reasonably simply by making 2 test batches, one batch with your homemade lye, the other with some pure lye, and the difference between the two, should tell you about how strong the homemade lye is, and approximately how much to adjust it by. If your wood is consistently the same the year round, and you lye making techniques are consistent, your results should be consistent. The thing to do as far as the testing is concerned, is to, do all of your testing before your worst case scenario happens, using the same techniques as you would then. One thought about the government and worse case scenario: In the past, most governments tended to become more restrictive , and use harsher measures for minor infractions ( what ever they may be ) for the things the government can control, when things the government can't control get overwhelming. This is for various reasons the biggest of which, is it makes the government look like they are actually doing something about the problem. Most often governments will over react to a problem that has caught them with their pants down around their ankles. Someone only has to look at 9/11, and the results, like the various laws passed since then, travel issues ( like almost having to pass a criminal background check to fly ) and redefining what a terrorist is ( not to mention it being somewhat vague, in parts of the definition ) to see what I'm talking about. At times like that, even innocent people get caught up in the " net of justice " Greg H. ----- Original Message ----- From: Kim & Garth Travis To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2004 09:46 Subject: Re: [biofuel] Theoretical Question So you let the water soak through the ashes, then put the tea in a shallow pan and let the water evaporate. Maybe do the final dry in the oven. How would you know how strong the lye is? I am looking at worst case scenario for our world so I don't think government will have anything to do with the ethanol. Bright Blessings, Kim At 05:43 PM 6/19/2004, you wrote: >You could make the lye, and then crystallize it, although in some parts of >the world, where humidity is an issue, you might need to apply heat, to >drive off the water. The only issue I see would be the need to involve >the government, due to the ethanol part. > >Greg H. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Kim & Garth Travis > To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 16:06 > Subject: [biofuel] Theoretical Question > > > I am wondering if it is possible to make biodiesel completely on the > farm. It is relatively easy to grow the seeds to press, and one can make > ethanol, which will work. The problem is the lye. Now I know how to make > lye from hardwood ashes to make soap, but I wouldn't want the water in a > batch of biodiesel. Is it possible to home manufacture everything that is > needed? > > Bright Blessings, > Kim > > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: >http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
