COLUMBIA — The fat, oil and grease from homes, restaurants and other sources have long been the bane of sewage treatment plants. The sticky waste can interfere with the treatment process, create blockages in the system and damage equipment.
Now, a Columbia engineering firm is using a state grant to figure out if unwanted oils and grease at large sewage plants can be recovered and converted into biofuel, which is generally blended into petroleum diesel and used to power vehicles and heavy machinery.
(The success of the biodiesel fuel industry relies heavily on biodiesel testing <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s32Ke2VzrqU>, not only at the production level but at the consumer level, where degraded fuel may cause engine failures. Of major concern to diesel and biodiesel users is the very real possibility that water has contaminated their fuel. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YcczdvPyAk). The potential catastrophic impact of this problem is discussed at length in this video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lh4qhXc_5s&feature=youtube_gdata.
Fleet Fuel's family of inexpensive biodiesel test kits is just a click away on the internet at:
<http://fleetbiodiesel.com/biodiesel_testing_and_supplies.html>)
