[dezl]

alright fellas I just made my 1st batch of biodiesel, I dranined the glycerine and move the biodiesel into my wash tanks and let the misters do their thing. Now the biodiesel has been sitting since last night and its all kind of dark and murky. Is this normal or did I screw up somewhere?

 

[Trapper]

Let it sit how warm is it??

 

[febrocks]

Can you tell us your whole process in more detail?

Edit: washed biodiesel looks like orange juice.

Eugene

 

[vlancaster]

i can make small batches only, my 30gal batch turned to soap pretty white soap. what is going on. what do you guys use as a basic amount of lye, 3.5? then add the titration amount. Is it possible that my .1% titration is too old? I having problems that need to be resolved before diesel reaches 5 buck a gallon....

 

[dezl]

Can you tell us your whole process in more detail?

Edit: washed biodiesel looks like orange juice.

Eugene

thats what I wanted to hear!!!!! I have 60 gallons of orange juice right now!!!

 

[dezl]

I have a 75 gallon heater, I used 60 gallons of WVO, 13.5 Gallons of methanol and I dont recal the exact number but 50 or so grams of lye, once the oil hit 140 I shut it down then let the methoxide mix inline. Let it circulate for 4 hours and then let it settle for about 5 hours. Then I drained the glycerine and put it into my wash tanks, Then I let the misters run. Its only been sitting for about 6 hours since its been washed, plus its been rather cold in my neck of the woods today.

 

[jtdc492]

I have a 75 gallon heater, I used 60 gallons of WVO, 13.5 Gallons of methanol and I dont recal the exact number but 50 or so grams of lye, once the oil hit 140 I shut it down then let the methoxide mix inline. Let it circulate for 4 hours and then let it settle for about 5 hours. Then I drained the glycerine and put it into my wash tanks, Then I let the misters run. Its only been sitting for about 6 hours since its been washed, plus its been rather cold in my neck of the woods today.

I let mine settle for at least 12hrs if not more. You must let the reaction cotinue to completion (although that never really happens). If your only settling for 5hrs you still have glycerin in your bioD and this will affect your quality. Also the number of grams you used seems way low, you need around 4.0 gms of lye/liter of WVO. So if 120 liters =34gallons you'd need 480 grams of lye, 60 gallons would need something like 800 grams. Sorry, I didn't do the math I'm just estimating.

 

[febrocks]

dezl.

Take a small glass jar and fill a little of washed bio you have, you don't need much. Nuke it for a minute, +-, open jar. See if bio turns to light beer. Your getting rid of water. After that, put in some tap water and shake it up. See if the water is clear after it settles. This shows if the bio is washed. If the water is hazy, keep misting and throw the bubble in there.

Eugene

 

[febrocks]

i can make small batches only, my 30gal batch turned to soap pretty white soap. what is going on. what do you guys use as a basic amount of lye, 3.5? then add the titration amount. Is it possible that my .1% titration is too old? I having problems that need to be resolved before diesel reaches 5 buck a gallon....

vlancaster.

Have you checked for water in your oil? One liter might not have enough to effect the process. But when you use 30 gallons, it might. Just something to check.

base lye is 5 grams liter + titrate.
potash is 7 grams.

Eugene

 

[febrocks]

FYI. You can use ph indicator to check you wash water to see if it's clean. I been using it for awhile because sometime my washed biodiesel will still have hazy color water after I drain it. Which is why I also test it in small jar.

Eugene

 

[dezl]

dezl.

Take a small glass jar and fill a little of washed bio you have, you don't need much. Nuke it for a minute, +-, open jar. See if bio turns to light beer. Your getting rid of water. After that, put in some tap water and shake it up. See if the water is clear after it settles. This shows if the bio is washed. If the water is hazy, keep misting and throw the bubble in there.

Eugene

I filled half a jar to see if it would clear up quicker, I figure I have 60 gallons its probably gonna take a bit to do whatever it needs to do.

I was told that I could test the bio by putting 3ml of washed bio in a jar then adding 27ml of methanol to it and shaking it. If its stays clear then Im good?????

I did this test and the fluid wasnt clear before I shook it, it was a white color. does this sound right?

thanks for everyones help!!

kevin

 

[dezl]

I let mine settle for at least 12hrs if not more. You must let the reaction cotinue to completion (although that never really happens). If your only settling for 5hrs you still have glycerin in your bioD and this will affect your quality. Also the number of grams you used seems way low, you need around 4.0 gms of lye/liter of WVO. So if 120 liters =34gallons you'd need 480 grams of lye, 60 gallons would need something like 800 grams. Sorry, I didn't do the math I'm just estimating.

sorry I was half asleep, it actually needed almost 1900 grams, so I put in almost 50 ounces of lye.

 

[febrocks]

The 3/27 test... What a wonderful test. Your trying to see if any oil drops out when you mix them together. When you first mix them, it going to look little cloudy like when you titrate.

Eugene

 

[dezl]

The 3/27 test... What a wonderful test. Your trying to see if any oil drops out when you mix them together. When you first mix them, it going to look little cloudy like when you titrate.

Eugene

so after I shake the thing for a minute it should be a cloudy white color, then what? I let mine sit for a few minutes and a very tiny amount of oil seperated after probably 3 or 4 minutes.

 

[febrocks]

The bio should dissolve in methanol without any dropout. If you have drop out then it means you have under converted biodiesel. IMO, little bit drop out is not going to kill you. But that's me and my 98.5 24v will run under converted biodiesel. One more thing. I personally tried 3/27 tests with different results on same biodiesel. I've done a lot of reading and most said that the methanol should be room temperature for best results. I've done cold mathanol and warm methanol, outside where it's 80+ degree. All with different results. So as long as my dried biodiesel looks like miller light, I use it. Ultimate test is to send it to a lab for full astm test. Sorry for the long reply.

Edit: I should add that my test control is not the best so my results might not be right.

Eugene

 

[vlancaster]

i got a water heater element in a plastic 55gal barrel. how hot and for how long do i need to let 30gal go to make sure the water is gone?.... i also have 3/4 inch tubing connecting my pump(out flow) to the top of the tank, how hot can it get?

 

[dezl]

The bio should dissolve in methanol without any dropout. If you have drop out then it means you have under converted biodiesel. IMO, little bit drop out is not going to kill you. But that's me and my 98.5 24v will run under converted biodiesel. One more thing. I personally tried 3/27 tests with different results on same biodiesel. I've done a lot of reading and most said that the methanol should be room temperature for best results. I've done cold mathanol and warm methanol, outside where it's 80+ degree. All with different results. So as long as my dried biodiesel looks like miller light, I use it. Ultimate test is to send it to a lab for full astm test. Sorry for the long reply.

Edit: I should add that my test control is not the best so my results might not be right.

Eugene

Well it does dissolve but after it sits it seperates a bit. If I want to get rid of the drop out I assume that the washed bio goes back intot he water and more lye is added? Although Im not sure how much?

Also what is an inexpensive way to heat the bio in the wash tank? My wash tank is 2 55 gallon clear drums.

 

[dezl]

The bio should dissolve in methanol without any dropout. If you have drop out then it means you have under converted biodiesel. IMO, little bit drop out is not going to kill you. But that's me and my 98.5 24v will run under converted biodiesel. One more thing. I personally tried 3/27 tests with different results on same biodiesel. I've done a lot of reading and most said that the methanol should be room temperature for best results. I've done cold mathanol and warm methanol, outside where it's 80+ degree. All with different results. So as long as my dried biodiesel looks like miller light, I use it. Ultimate test is to send it to a lab for full astm test. Sorry for the long reply.

Edit: I should add that my test control is not the best so my results might not be right.

Eugene

Well it does dissolve but after it sits it seperates a bit. If I want to get rid of the drop out I assume that the washed bio goes back intot the water and more lye is added? Although Im not sure how much?

Also what is an inexpensive way to heat the bio in the wash tank? My wash tank is 2 55 gallon clear drums.

 

[febrocks]

I usually wait a few minutes but if it dissolves, you should have to wait a long time.

I've never reprocess so I don't know what the ratios are. You might have to do some diggin.

Cheapest way to heat big barrel is set it in the sun. If your referring to drying biodiesel, I use my bubbler with heat lamp and fan on top of my dry barrel. You just have to come up with best way that will work for you.

Eugene

 

[dezl]

alright so I did you little test and put a small amount in a jar and threw it in the microwave. Not much happened, I still have orange juice. I dont have any budlight yet.