WO2006115284A1

WO2006115284A1 - Biofuel conversion process

Info

Publication number: WO2006115284A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/308918
Authority: WO
Inventors: Norikazu Nakamura
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-22
Filing date: 2006-04-21
Publication date: 2006-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-22
Also published as: CN101163655A; US20060236595A1; EP1877355A1; BRPI0608492A2; TW200702433A; CA2606208A1; JP2008536952A

Abstract

A process, method, apparatus and materials for efficient conversion of waste vegetable oils into biofuel that does not use methanol as a reactant or catalyst. The resulting biofuel is mixed with kerosene or heavy oil to form a stable diesel fuel grade fuel that is mixable with diesel fuel. In addition, the process and apparatus are also applicable to the conversion of virgin vegetable oils and other waste or virgin oils, such as used motor oil, into fuels or fuel additives.

Description

DESCRIPTION

BIOFUEL CONVERSION PROCESS

Technical Field

The present invention is directed to a process, method, apparatus and materials for efficient conversion of waste vegetable oils into biofuel that does not use methanol as a reactant or catalyst.

Background Art

Biofuel is a type of fuel made using non-petroleum based oils converted to allow combustion within power plants and engines as a replacement for heavy oils and diesel fuel. Biofuels have desirable burning characteristics and are derived from renewable resources. For example, biofuels may be derived from vegetable oils processed from crops.

Vegetable oils are used extensively in food preparation in restaurants, hotels, hospitals and other large institutions. The use of vegetable oils in food preparation generates substantial waste product that must be appropriately disposed of. Processing of these waste • vegetable oils into biofuel thus serves two beneficial purposes, creation of a clean and environmentally friendly fuel source and the elimination of waste disposal requirements .

To understand the scope of the potential use of the present invention it is beneficial to appreciate the extent of the generation of waste vegetable oils in our society. As an example, the city of Okinawa, Japan, the home of the inventor,' has about 1.2 million people. It is estimated that Okinawa generates about 400,000 liters of waste vegetable oils, primarily tempura cooking oils, every month, but that amount may be only about ^ of the actual annual production. Of the known amount, approximately 90% is recoverable and available for reprocessing. In addition, Okinawa has a very large US military base having 50,000 military and civilian personnel that is estimated to generate about 100,000 liters of waste vegetable oil per month.

There are several known processes relating to the field of conversion of waste vegetable oils into biofuel. In one practice, the waste vegetable oils are gathered and stored in large drums, for example 55 gallon drums. The waste vegetable oils are allowed to sit for thirty days so that the sediments in the waste oil settle to the bottom of the container. After the settling process, the top clarified oil is removed for processing in a column catalytic reaction chamber while the bottom layer of oil having retained sediments and oil are sent for disposal. This process is inefficient as it requires extensive storage periods and there is still a significant amount of sediment contaminated waste oil that is sent for disposal. It is also a common process in the conversion of vegetable oils, whether virgin or waste oils, to use methanol as a reactant or catalyst. The methanol based processes have as an advantage that the resulting biofuel can be used in engines without being mixed with other fuels. A volume of vegetable oil is mixed with a solution of Methanol and Sodium hydroxide. Approximately 80% of the oil volume becomes fuel, and byproducts are glycerin, fatty acids.

Engines running on biodiesel sometimes register an increase in Nitrous Oxide (NO_x) emissions. The range of increasing in NO_x emissions resulting from biodiesel can be anywhere between 1-15% but is generally around 5%. The complete lack of sulfur in biodiesel fuel allows the use of powerful NO_x breaking catalysts that had been unusable.

The present invention is directed to a process, method, apparatus and materials for efficient conversion of waste vegetable oils into biofuel that does not use methanol as a reactant or catalyst. Engines running on biofuel register a decrease in Nitrous Oxide (NO_x) emissions .

However, the methanol based processes result in a biofuel that does not mix well with other fuels, such as diesel fuel, so a small quantity of methanol derived biofuels must be mixed with other fuels, such as diesel fuel for automobiles.

It would therefore be beneficial to have a biofuel conversion process that does not require the storage and settling of solids from the waste oils and that does not waste a percentage of the oil contaminated with sediments, and that results in a biofuel that can be mixed in a tank with other fuels such as diesel fuel.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a process, method, apparatus and materials for efficient conversion of waste vegetable oils into biofuel that does not use methanol as a reactant or catalyst. The resulting biofuel is mixed with kerosene or heavy oil to form a stable diesel fuel grade fuel that is mixable with diesel fuel. In addition, the process and apparatus are also applicable to the conversion of virgin vegetable oils and other waste or virgin oils, such as used motor oil, into fuels or fuel additives. In the process, the waste oils are mixed with a blend of catalyst and absorption powders in a tank and heated to about 80 degrees centigrade for 40 to 60 minutes. The composition is then passed through a filter to remove the added powders, any sediments and certain contaminates in the oil including most carbon solids, as well as certain fatty acids and constituents of the waste oil. The mixing and filtering process clarifies the resulting biofuel and enhances the energy content from 4,000 to 5,000 calories/gram to 9,000 to 10,000 calories/gram.

The clarified biofuel resulting from vegetable oils may then be blended with kerosene and filtered through the filter bed containing the removed sediments from the first filtering process or a powder mixture of absorption powders is added to the blended biofuel and kerosene, mixed for 40 to 60 minutes and then filtered. A similar process can be used to recover and generate fuel grade oil from used or waste motor oil, with a resulting product that can be mixed with the biofuel derived from vegetable oils as a replacement for the kerosene additive to produce a light grade or heavy grade fuel oil.

Brief Description of Drawings

Figure 1 schematically depicts the processing apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 2 schematically depicts^' an alternate configuration of the processing apparatus of the present invention.

Figure 3 schematically depicts the fuel blending filter assembly and process used with the apparatus of Figure 2.

Best Mode for Carrying^' Out of the Invention Figure 1 schematically depicts a basic biofuel conversion apparatus 10 according to a first aspect of the present invention. The apparatus 10 includes an oil tank 20 that is either a large storage tank or plurality of storage drums. Oil from tank 20 is routed via pipe 22 and pump 24 to a catalyst tank 30. The catalyst tank 30 includes a mixing apparatus 32, for example a motor 34, shaft 36 and impeller 38. The lower section of the catalyst tank 30 includes a heating assembly 40, for example a steam heat exchange system. The catalyst tank 30 also includes a temperature sensor 42 and may include a level sensor 44. The temperature sensor 42 is connected to a controller 46 that controls the pump 24 and the timing of the process as well as the temperature control for the heating assembly 40.

Upon completion of a reaction period in the catalyst tank 30, the mixture is delivered via a pipe 50 to pump 52. The output of pump 52 is directed to a pipe 54. Pipe 54 delivers the mixture to a high pressure filter assembly 60. An air compressor 56 provides compressed air via pipe 50 to a junction valve 58 in pipe 54 upstream of the filter assembly 60. The operations of the pump 52 and the compressor 56 are controlled by the controller 46. The air compressor 56 is used at the end of a filtering process step to force oils in the pipes and falter assembly 60 through the filter in assembly 60. The high pressure filter 60 filters the mixture from the catalytic tank 30 through a filter media 62. The high pressure filter 60 may include a plurality of filter chambers assembled in series and fed via an axial flow path aligned with the inlet connection to pipe 54. Preferably, the filter media 62 has a 150 mesh fiberglass filter although a range about this mesh size is potentially applicable.

The primary output of high pressure filter 62 is provided to pipe 70. A secondary output of high pressure filter 60 caused by leakage along the edges of the filter media 62 is captured in a tray 64 and delivered via pipe 66 to pump 68 which preferably directs the secondary output back to the inlet of the high pressure filter 60. Pipe 70 from the high pressure filter 62 is connected to a valve 72 that directs the flow to a pipe 74 or recirculation pipe 76. The output of pipe 74 is a fuel combination tank 80. The output from recirculation pipe 76 is a return into the catalyst tank 30. The fuel combination tank 80 includes a mixing assembly 82, including a motor 84 driving a shaft 86 having an impeller 88. In fuel combination tank 80, the reacted and filtered oil from the high pressure filter 60 is blended with a base fuel, either kerosene or light oil (heating oil) . An absorption powder composition may also be added to the blend to enhance the chemical bonding of the blend and to remove additional contaminants such as ash and carbon particles.

After a sufficient retention and mixing period in the fuel combination tank 80, the blend is routed through high pressure filter 60, or a different high pressure filter of essentially the same design, which filters out the absorption powder from the blend. The output of the high pressure filter 60 after filtering the blend is directed to a product tank 90. Figure 2 schematically depicts a second more advanced biofuel conversion apparatus 100 according to a second aspect of present invention. Apparatus 100 includes oil tank 110 that is a large oil tank or plurality of storage drums. Oil from tank 110 is routed via pipe 112 to a pump 114 and the output of pump 114 is directed to pipe 116 having a control valve 118. Pipe 116 directs oil to a centrifugal separator 120. The separator 120 has an outlet to pipe 122 and waste outlet to waste 124. The separator 120 includes a motor 126 driving a centrifugal impeller assembly 128, to separate particulate matter from the oil in the centrifugal separator 120.

Pipe 122 delivers the cleaned oil to a holding tank 130. Oil from the holding tank 130 is pumped via pump 132 and pipe 134 into a catalytic mixing tank 140. The catalytic mixing tank 140 includes a motor driven mixing assembly 142 with temperature sensor 144 and level sensor 146 similar to that described above for Figure 1. Further, the catalytic mixing tank 40 includes a heating assembly 148, for example a steam heat exchange system, to heat materials in the catalytic mixing tank 140. Catalytic mixing tank 140 is also configured to receive powders from powder tank 150 via pipe 152 and auger screw feed 154. The output of mixing tank 140 is directed to a pipe 160 to a high pressure pump 170. The high pressure pump delivers the mixture via pipe 172 to a high pressure filter assembly 180. Pipe 172 preferably also includes pressure sensor 174 and a junction valve 176 with junction valve 176 also being connected to an air compressor 178 for cleaning the pipes and filters at the end of a batch. The high pressure filter assembly 180 is configured similar to that of high pressure filter assembly 60 of Figure 1. Accordingly, the high pressure filter assembly 180 includes a plurality of filter chambers 182 and filter media 184 to separate particulates and powder materials from the mixed oil composition passing therethrough. The outlet product from high pressure filter assembly 180 is delivered via pipe 190 to a secondary filter assembly 194. The secondary filter assembly 194 includes a directional valve 196 to separate the flow to one of two filters 198. Each of the filters 198 includes a paper filter having a 250 to 300 mesh filter^' media. The output side of each of filters 198 is directed to a pipe 200 to deliver the filtered fuel to a storage tank 220.

The high pressure assembly 180 also produces a secondary output to a tray 202. The flow from the tray 202 is directed through pipe 204 to a pump 206. The output of pump 206 is directed to pipe 208. Pipe 208 terminates in a directional valve 210 which separate the flow into one of two pipes 212 each having a filter 214. Each filter 214 includes a paper filter media having a mesh size of 250 to 300. The output of the filters 214 is directed to a pipe 216 which delivers the output to the storage tank 220.

Figure 3 depicts the blending system for blending the processed oil with a base fuel such as kerosene or light oil. The process starts with the storage tank 220 having filtered processed oil from the system of Figure 2. The system also includes a fuel tank 222 for containing kerosene or light oil. Each of the tanks 220 and 222 are configured to deliver oil or fuel via pipes 224 and 226, respectively, to a catalytic blending tank 230. Optionally, a high pressure filter may be included in pipe 224 to filter out any retained particulate matter. Also, as depicted, there may be two catalytic blending tanks 230 to allow for multiple batch processing.

The blending tank 230 includes a mixing assembly 232 having a motor 234 having a shaft 236 driving impeller 238. The blending tank 230 may also include level sensor 240 and^' temperature sensor 242 to provide signals to a system controller 244 that monitors the level and temperature of the blending composition. The blending tank 230 may also receive powdered materials from the powder tank 246, delivering powders via a pipe 248 to the catalytic blending tank 230.

The blended output from the blending tank 230 is delivered via a pipe 250 to a high pressure pump 260. The output of the high pressure pump 260 is delivered via a pipe 262 to a high pressure filter assembly 270. The pipe 262 preferably includes a pressure sensor 264 and a junction valve 266, the junction valve 266 also being connected to receive pressurized air from a compressor 268 used to clean out the pipes and high pressure filter assembly 270.

The blended composition is delivered to the high pressure filter assembly 270 to remove powder composition and particulate matter from the blend. The output of the high pressure filter assembly 270 is directed to a pipe 280 which delivers the output to a filter assembly 290. The filter assembly 290 includes a pair of filters 292 that may be used sequentially as discussed above with respect to the filter assembly 198. The filters 292 include paper filter media having a 250 to 300 mesh filter media. The output of the filter assembly 290 is directed to a biofuel tank 300. The high pressure filter tank assembly 270 may also have a secondary output captured by a tray 272 and delivered to a pump 274 via a pipe 276. The output from pump 274 is directed to filter assembly 278 having a pair of filters 282, operated sequentially. Filter assembly 278 has an output pipe 284 delivering the filtered fuel^' mixture to biofuel tank 300.

The biofuel conversion process utilizing either the apparatus of Figure 1 or Figure 2 relies on the use of a catalytic material and absorption material composition. The catalytic materials are blended and grounded to fine or super fine powder having a particle size less than 500 μm and preferably having a particle size of less than 100 μm. The powdered catalytic materials are mixed with vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil in the catalytic tanks. The catalytic powders are preferably:

25 to 35 weight percent of an aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na₂O, SiO₂, H₂O) and, either

65 to 75 weight percent of a composition of calcium oxide, sodium monoxide, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O, Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O for processing vegetable oils, or 65 to 75 weight percent of sodium monoxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula: Na₂O, nSiθ₂, XH₂O, for processing mineral or petroleum based oils. In addition to the powdered catalytic materials, the powder composition added to the catalytic mixing tank includes powdered absorption materials, preferably selected from the group consisting of one or more of the following materials, with the preferred composition including each of the materials in the relative weight percentages indicated below:

79.6 to 82 percent Silicon Dioxide (SiO₂), 11.6 to 12 percent Aluminum Oxide (AI₂O₃) , 2.7 to 3.1 percent Iron Oxide (Fe₂O₃), 3.3 to 4.1 percent Magnesium Oxide (MgO), and 0.7 to 0.9 percent Calcium Oxide (CaO).

While the process may not require all of these constituent component absorption powders, the best results have been obtained using all of these absorption powders. Moreover, while the narrow ranges above have been found to be effective an appropriate range for each of the component materials is 75 to 85 weight percent of silicon dioxide (Siθ₂) _r 10 to 14 weight percent of aluminum oxide (AI₂O₃) , 2 to 4 weight percent of iron oxide (Fe₂Oa) , 2 to 5 weight percent of magnesium oxide (MgO), and 0.5 to 2 weight percent of calcium oxide (CaO) .

Further, it has. been found that a preferred composition contains a catalyst composition powder • consisting of: thirty weight percent of the aluminum sludge zeolite material, and 70 weight percent of Na₂O, nSiO₂, xH₂0, or 70 weight percent of 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂,

4.5H₂O; and an absorption composition powder consisting of: 80.8 weight percent of silicon dioxide (SiO₂), 11.8 weight percent of aluminum oxide (AI2O₃) , 2.9 weight percent of iron oxide (Fe₂Os), 3.7 weight percent of magnesium oxide (MgO), and 0.8 weight percent of calcium oxide (CaO). As described above, the powders forming the ionic exchange or catalytic materials include an aluminum sludge zeolite. This aluminum sludge zeolite material may be processed to increase surface porosity by known methods such as an acid wash, and then cleaned with a calcium wash to leave a deposit of calcium within the porosity of the zeolite .

In processing the vegetable oils in the processing system described above, the amount of catalytic powder for processing each 100 liters of vegetable oil is 250 to 750 grams with a preferred range of 450 to 550 grams. For most processes, however, it has been found that an adequate amount of catalytic powder without excess or waste is 500 grams for 100 liters of vegetable oil. By comparison, the amount of the absorption powder for 100 liters of vegetable oil is in a range of 1 to 2 kilograms for a resulting dark oil or a range up to 3 kilograms -to produce a light or more clarified oil. For these processes, a preferred range for the amount powders to yield a dark oil having a higher carbon content would be 1.5 kilograms of absorption powder to 100 liters of process oil to 3 kilograms of absorption powder used to produce^' a very clear or clarified oil. Adding in excess of 3 kilograms is not necessary and leads to excess usage and waste of the absorption powders.

In the catalytic mixing tank, the powders in the amounts described above are blended into the waste or virgin vegetable oils and mixed for a period of 40 to 60 minutes as the mixture is heated to a reaction temperature of 60° C to 80° C and, preferably, at the upper end of this range such that the temperature is controlled to between 78° to 80° C by the heat exchange assembly and the controller. It is also preferred that the material be maintained at the reaction temperature for at least 20 minutes within the 40 to 60 minute interval.

Within the high pressure filter assemblies described above, the materials are processed at a pressure of approximately 0.5 MPa through the filter media. The materials are processed at an initial flow rate of approximately 90 liter per minute in a fresh filter media although the processing rate will be reduced with the build up of a filter cake on the filter media. It is preferred that materials be recirculated at the beginning of any filtering process, in particular if a new filter media has been installed in the high pressure filter assembly. The recirculation of the initial processed product is beneficial to wet the filter media and to build a cake of powder including catalytic powder and absorption powder on the surface of the filter media. It is preferred that the thickness of the cake be 2 to 3 mm before the filter oil is routed to the fuel combination tank 80 or tank 220. The filter media can be used to process 2 to 3 batches of waste oil before the filter requires cleaning, so the cake build up on the surface of the filter media and within the high pressure filter may be substantial. A cake buildup of 2 to 4 cm in thickness thus may increase the effectiveness of the filter process.

While fatty acids retained in waste vegetable oils may not be removed by the filter media in the high pressure filter assembly, once the cake develops on the surface of the filter media then it is believed that at least a portion of the fatty acid from the vegetable oil can be trapped in the cake and removed from the processed biofuel. In this process, the absorption materials may allow fatty acids to combine to be of a size that can be retained either by the cake or by the filter media in the filtering step.

When the filtered oil after the first processing stage is blended with kerosene or light oil, the absorption powders as discussed above may be added to and mixed with the blend in a range of approximately 1 kilogram of absorption powder to 200 liters of combined base oil and kerosene. However, for a process which is going to be filtered through a filter bed that has not been primed by prior filtering of the^" foregoing powders in the first staged then preferred the range of absorption powders to 200 liters of fuel would be from 1 to 3 kilograms. By comparison, if the blended materials are to be filtered through a high pressure filter assembly that has previously being used to filter either a mixture or blend from the processes described above, and the filter has not been cleaned, then the preferred range of absorption powder would be 0 to 3 kilograms per 200 liters of combined processed oil or kerosene. It has been found that waste vegetable oil processed according to the foregoing assembly and method provides a biofuel component having the following properties: pH 7.0

Flash point, PMCC 214.0 °C Kinematic Viscosity, 40°C 42.42 mm²/s

Pour Point -7.5 °C

Carbon (mass %) 0.31

Water 810 ppm

Ash (mass %) 0.002 Sulfur (mass %) 0.0002

Density, 15°C 0.9270 g/cm³

Calorie 39,310 J/g

The biofuel produced from waste vegetable oil utilizing the foregoing technology is stable and, when once mixed with the kerosene or light oil it can be combined with other diesel fuels or light oils to be burned in an engine or combustion process without chemical separation or decomposition. In addition, the pH of the biofuel is neutral and the biofuel has an energy content that is consistent with the energy content of other fuels which leads to the biofuel being stable when combined with other fuels .

When processing the blended oil and kerosene through the high pressure filter assembly, the blended composition may not require absorption powder if the high pressure filter assembly includes substantial cake deposits on the surface of the filter media.

By the process according to the present invention, the waste oil can be processed to remove particulates, substantially all, if not all carbon, certain fatty acids, and other contaminates. In addition, the pH of a waste oil is neutralized to a pH of approximately 7.0, which occurs because of compounds both within the catalytic powders and the first three absorption powders.

The catalytic function of the catalytic powders increases or ionizes oils to increase energy content and combustibility and allow blending with kerosene or light oils. In addition, by the process of mixing both catalytic powders and absorption powders in the mixing tank, the steps necessary to process waste oil into biofuel are combined and the processing time for a batch to pass through the entire process and system of the present invention may take less than two hours to per batch. Each batch can be scalable within the foregoing system so that a small facility could process a batch 100 liters while a large facility could process a batch of several thousand liters in each of the tanks.

While the present invention is particularly useful in propessing and cleaning waste vegetable oil, the process is equally applicable to virgin vegetable oils to convert these virgin oils to biofuels or biofuel additives. Further, the apparatus described above may be used to process petroleum based oil, such as used motor oil, to convert the petroleum oil into a fuel grade oil or fuel additive. To process petroleum oils, the same process steps are carried out. However, the powdered catalytic materials for petroleum based oils include 65 to 75 weight percent sodium monoxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula: Na₂O, nSiθ2, XH2O, mixed with 25 to 35 weight percent aluminum sludge zeolite for processing mineral or petroleum based oils. When the high pressure filter assembly has been used to process at least one and up to three or four batches, the filter media may be cleaned to remove the cake build up. The byproduct material in the cake build up primarily consists of the catalytic powders and the absorption powders as well as carbon, particulates, fatty acids, and other contaminants as well as small amounts of oil. This byproduct material may be mixed with cement powder and water and molded to form bricks or other configurations which may be used for paving and construction materials. It has been found that a mixture of 75% byproduct and 25% cement powder is sufficient to form a stable and hardened brick. Other blends and ratios of byproduct to cement or byproduct and binder materials can be used so as to form useful construction materials. Accordingly, all products and byproducts of the process according to this invention are either useful biofuels or used as construction products, Alternatively, the byproduct from the filter media may be used as a fertilizer and soil conditioner, as opposed to being formed into hardened materials, as the materials contained in the byporoduct materials are primarily mineral compositions and organic materials.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be evident that there are a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the present invention which come within- the understanding of those skilled in the art. The scope of the invention includes any combination of the elements from the different species or embodiments disclosed herein, as well as subassemblies, assemblies, and methods thereof. However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from the spirit of the invention be considered as within the scope of the invention, and that the invention is interpreted by the proper scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A biofuel production process comprising the steps of: pumping a desired quantity of vegetable based oil into a mixing tank; preparing a catalyst powder composition having an aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na2θ, SiO₂, H₂O) and a composition of calcium oxide, sodium monoxide, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O, Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O; blending a mixture of catalyst powders and absorption powders; mixing the catalyst powders and aborption powders into the vegetable based oil in the mixing .tank; heating the mixture in the tank to a temperature in the range of between about 60 and 80 degrees centigrade for a period of 40 to 60 minutes; pumping the mixture through a filter system to remove substantially all of the particulate and powdered materials and obtain a filtered biofuel having neutral pH and an energy content in excess of 9000 calories/gram.

2. The biofuel production process of claim 1, wherein the catalyst powders preferably include 25 to 35 weight percent of the aluminum sludge zeolite material Na₂O, nSiO₂, xH₂O and 65 to 75 weight percent 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O.

3. The biofuel production process of claim 1, wherein the absorption powders are 78 to 82 percent silicon dioxide (SiO₂), 11 to 13 percent aluminum oxide (Al₂Oa), 2.5 to 3.5 percent iron oxide (Fe₂Os), 3 to 4.5 percent magnesium oxide (MgO), and .5 to 1 percent calcium oxide (CaO) .

4. The biofuel production process of claim 2, wherein the absorption powders are: silicon dioxide (SiO₂), aluminum oxide (Al₂Oa), iron oxide (Fe₂Oa), magnesium oxide (MgO) , and calcium oxide (CaO) .

5. The biofuel production process of claim 1, wherein the catalyst powders and the absorption powders comprise: a catalyst composition powder having 25 to 35 weight percent of an aluminum sludge zeolite material and 65 to 75 weight percent of 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O; and an absorption composition powder having predominantly silicon dioxide (SiO₂) , and up to about 20 weight percent combined of aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃), iron oxide (Fe₂O₃), magnesium oxide (MgO) , .and calcium oxide (CaO) .

6. The biofuel production process of claim 5, wherein the powders are formed to a particle size of less than 500 μm.

7. The biofuel production process of claim 5, wherein the mixture is pumped through a filter system having a filter media with a filter size of 150 mesh.

8. The biofuel production process of claim 5 wherein the ratio of catalyst powders to absorption powders is in the range of between about 1:2 and 1:6.

9. The biofuel production process of claim 5 wherein the amount of catalyst powders required for processing 100 liters of vegetable oil is in the range of between about 450 and 550 grams.

10. The biofuel production process of claim 5 wherein the amount of absorption powders required for processing 100 liters of vegetable oil is in the range of between about 1 kilogram to 6 kilograms.

11. The biofuel production process of claim 1, further comprising the step of separating solids from the vegetable based oils in a separator prior to pumping the desired quantity into the mixing tank.

12. The biofuel production process of claim 1, further comprising: pumping the filtered biofuel to a blending tank; pumping a hydrocarbon based fuel selected from kerosene and fuel oil into the blending tank; blending the biofuel and the hydrocarbon based fuel with an absorption powder composition in a ratio of between 1 and 3 kilograms of absorption powder to 200 liters of blended fuel for a time period of 30 minutes to 60 minutes; and filtering the blended composition through a high pressure filtration system to remove substantially all of the absorption powder to yield a blended biofuel.

13. The biofuel production process of claim 12, further comprising: filtering the blended biofuel through a filter having a filter size of 250 to 300 mesh.

14. A biofuel production process comprising the steps of: pumping a desired quantity of vegetable based oil into a mixing tank; preparing catalyst powders and absorption powders, wherein the catalyst powders comprise a catalyst composition powder having 25 to 35 weight percent of an aluminum sludge zeolite material, 65 to 75 weight percent of a composition of calcium oxide, sodium monoxide, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O Al₂O₃, 2siO₂, 4.5H₂O; and the absorption powders comprise an absorption composition powder having up to 82 weight percent of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) , up to 12 weight percent of aluminum oxide (AI2O3) , up to 3.5 weight percent of iron oxide (Fe₂Oa), up to 4.5 weight percent of magnesium oxide (MgO), and up to 1 weight percent of calcium oxide (CaO) ; mixing the catalyst powders and absorption powders into the vegetable based oil in the mixing tank; heating the mixture in the tank to a temperature in the range of between about 60 and 80 degrees centigrade for a period of 40 to 60 minutes; pumping the mixture through a filter system to remove substantially all of the particulate and powdered materials and obtain a filtered biofuel.

15. A reaction powder composition for aiding the conversion of vegetable oils to biofuel, comprising: a catalyst composition powder having 25 to 35 weight percent of an aluminum sludge zeolite material Na₂O, SiO₂, H₂O, and 65 to 75 weight percent of a composition of calcium oxide, sodium monoxide, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂θ Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O; and an absorption composition powder having silicon dioxide (SiO₂) , aluminum oxide (Al₂Oa) , iron oxide (Fe₂Os) _r magnesium oxide (MgO) , and calcium oxide (CaO) .

16. The reaction powder of claim 15 wherein the powders are formed to a particle size of less than 200 μm.

17. The reaction powder of claim 15 wherein the ratio of catalyst composition powder to absorption composition powder is in the range of between about 1:2 and 1:6.

18. The reaction powder of claim 15 wherein the ratio of catalyst powder to absorption powder is in the range of between about 1:2 and 1:4.

19. The reaction powder of claim 15 wherein the amount of catalyst composition powder required for processing 100 liters of vegetable oil is in the range of between about 450 and 550 grams.

20. The reaction powder of claim 15 wherein the amount of absorption powder required for processing 100 liters of vegetable oil is in the range of between about 1 kilogram to 6 kilograms.

21. A waste vegetable oil conversion slurry- comprising: waste vegetable oil; a catalyst composition powder; an absorption composition powder; said waste vegetable oil, catalyst composition powder and absorption composition powder mixed together in a ratio of 100 liters oil to between about 400 and 600 grams catalyst composition powder and between about 800 and 3,000 grams absorption composition powder.

22. The waste vegetable oil conversion slurry of claim 21 wherein the catalyst composition powder and the absorption composition powder comprise a catalyst composition powder having an aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na₂O, SiO₂, xH₂0) , and a composition of calcium oxide, sodium monoxide, aluminum oxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula 0.75CaO, 0.2Na₂O Al₂O₃, 2SiO₂, 4.5H₂O; and an absorption composition powder having 75 to 85 weight percent of silicon dioxide (SiO₂) , 10 to 14 weight percent of aluminum oxide (AI₂O₃) , 2 to 4 weight percent of iron oxide (Fe2θ3) , 2 to 5 weight percent of magnesium oxide (MgO), and 0.5 to 2 weight percent of calcium oxide (CaO) .

23. A fuel production process comprising the steps of: pumping a desired quantity of mineral or petroleum based oil into a mixing tank; preparing a catalyst powder composition having an aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na₂θ, Siθ₂, H₂O) and a composition of sodium monoxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula: Na2θ, nSiθ2, xH₂0; preparing an absorption powder composition; mixing the catalyst powders and aborption powders into the oil in the mixing tank; heating the mixture in the tank to a temperature in the range of between about 60 and 80 degrees centigrade for a period of 40 to 60 minutes; pumping the mixture through a filter system to remove substantially all of the particulate and powdered materials and obtain a filtered fuel having an energy content in excess of 9000 calories/gram.

24. The fuel production process of claim 23, wherein the catalyst powders preferably include 25 to 35 weight percent of the aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na₂θ, nSiO₂, xH_∑O) and 65 to 75 weight percent Na2θ, nSiθ₂, XH₂O .

25. The fuel production process of claim 24, wherein the absorption composition powder is 75 to 85 weight percent of silicon dioxide (Siθ2) , 10 to 14 weight percent of aluminum oxide (AI2O3) , 2 to 4 weight percent of iron oxide (Fe₂θ₃) , 2 to 5 weight percent of magnesium oxide (MgO), and 0.5 to 2 weight percent of calcium oxide (CaO).

26. The fuel production process of claim 23 wherein the ratio of catalyst powders to absorption powders is in the range of between about 1:2 and 1:6.

27. The fuel production process of claim 23 wherein the amount of catalyst powders required for processing 100 liters of oil is in the range of between about 450 and 550 grams .

28. The fuel production process of claim 23 wherein the amount of absorption powders required for processing 100 liters of oil is in the range of between about 1 kilogram to 6 kilograms.

29. A reaction powder composition for aiding the conversion of contaminated petroleum oils to fuel grade oil, comprising: a catalyst composition powder having 25 to 35 weight percent of an aluminum sludge zeolite material (Na₂θ Siθ₂ H₂O) , and 65 to 75 weight percent of a composition of sodium monoxide, silicon dioxide and water in the formula: Na₂O, nSiO₂, XH₂O; and an absorption composition powder having silicon dioxide (SiO₂) , aluminum oxide (Al₂Oa) , iron oxide (Fe₂Os) , magnesium oxide (MgO) , and calcium oxide (CaO) .

30. The reaction powder of claim 29, wherein the absorption composition powder includes in excess of 70 weight percent silicon dioxide (SiO₂) .