Would it be feasible to build a DIY distillation collumn and do ';hobby oil refining'; at home?

People distill alcohol at home and make biodiesel out of DIY plants... would it be possible to build a home oil refinery as a hobby? And buy barrels of crude to turn into fuels?Would it be feasible to build a DIY distillation collumn and do ';hobby oil refining'; at home?
If you try this, I hope you don't use a bunsen burner. If any of the fluids get away from you, there could be a very nice fire where you don't want it.





I have seen the result of using a burner to try to distill a volitile and flammable liquid. Lucky for the fellow doing it, he didn't burn the lab down. He only burned the front of the lab cabinets.





Making biodiesel doesn't take any distillaltion but rather filtering to get a useable product.Would it be feasible to build a DIY distillation collumn and do ';hobby oil refining'; at home?
Absolutely. Just use a glass boiling flask, fractionating column, and condenser available from any lab supplier such as Fisher. Quickfit is the easiest to use.





I know some people who did this with coal tar, and separated it into all of its components at high school.





You need running water for the condenser and a bunsen burner to heat the flask. Your biggest problem will be getting hold of a small amount of crude oil. Easy to buy a million barrels, hard to buy one.





Edit:


Oil field trash is right about the Bunsen burner. I have had fires distilling flammable liquids using a Bunsen and a copper gauze, but extinquished them without difficulty. Using small quantities (100 cc or so) helps. An electric heater (from the same supplier) is safer, but more expensive. Plus you might have difficulty vaporising the higher BP fractions. Either way don't forget to wear your safety gear and keep a CO2 extinguisher handy.





Oh yeah. You might want to study some practical chemistry textbooks, or maybe take a course at your local community college. Maybe you would live longer?