...I'll be interested in knowing what the root cause is....

One of the great things about biodiesel is that the process is relatively safe and people can do it at home. The flammability of methanol is the worst part.

In regards to their "chemical reaction" that caused the explosion...I'd vote fire...the world's first chemical reaction give to us by prehistoric man...or by Promethius depending on your viewpoint.

Dissolving the lye in the MeOH may generate a little heat, but shouldn't be enough to ignite the methanol. The transesterification itself requires heat, so that's not the "chemical reaction" that caused the explosion.

Outside of not grounding and/or inerting properly to avoid spark/static ignitions, the only other thing I'd think it could be peroxide build-up in the methanol. They may have gotten a batch of really old methanol. Over time alcohols, pretty much all of them, can can undergo reaction processes that result in peroxide formation. To be honest, I don't know quite what the mechanism of this is. They are generally shipped with a bit of inhibiter to prevent the peroxide formation. How ever the reaction takes place, it would likely form Me-O-O-Me plus hydrogen. If a significant amount of heat is generated from the mixing of lye and MeOH containing an appreciable amount of peroxide, that could potentially "go off."

I think peroxide is unlikely, and would suspect methanol vapors were ignited with a spark.


Those of you who make biodiesel at home...I hope you have your equipment grounded to earth. Those using plastic tanks have to worry a little more since these can build up static charge. In an ideal world, the non-metal vessels would be inerted with N2 during the transfers. If you have grounded metal lines that conduct the transfers from one vessel to another, you should be in pretty good shape.

News media will never go for the cause unless they can get the ratings and make it into a bash business scandal. OSHA will uncover the cause with help of other organizations. Should UL the Dark Knight for the Fire Insurance Companies find a cause, look for more regulations.