Where to find BAYNOX or ETHANOX in North Queesland? I Emailed Petrofin in sydney wit and see.

This has been an interesting read.
From what I gather here the brass valves that are on my reactor are causing oxidation and acidification of my bio. Copper and Galvanized steel are off limits too? So is it just black pipe and stainless that's ok to use?

How big of a problem is this if the fuel is to be consumed and not stored?

Thanks

Brass will be fine. Yes it will corrode some, but if you're not storing your biodiesel in contact with brass for extended periods you'll be ok.

If you want to spend the extra money for stainless, go ahead if that will give you the extra piece of mind.

Yes galvanized is off limits, the methanol and KOH/NaOH will strip it right off into the biodiesel itself.

Is galvanised ok to use in BD that's been washed but not dried?

NO! Zinc being electronegative to avery other metal it will go first and trash your fuel. That's why we put zinc sacrificial anodes on boat hulls and the like.

Plain steel is OK for a processor. It 's cheap, easy to work and weld, easier to find a ready made vessel from the recup heap etc... Stainless steel is better obviously, so is gold... Fresh biodiesel is not corrosive to steel and the base process is passivating thus protecting the metal surface. If acid reaction is used no problems: is is immediately followed by the base reaction. I use steel reactor since 1999 and no worries. (made from good old ubiquitous 44 gallon drum and a conical bottom, a must) My corrosion problem which prompted this post is from sitting BD in steel tanks on vehicles.

Fresh Biodiesel will be ok until the oxidation process kicks in. Basically use it quick especaily in Common rail / unit injector engines where acid etc can cause long term damage to the fine parts.

Link to Baynox. Lanxess have an office in Melbourn.

http://www.baynox.com/bac/en/l...ntry=750&submit=Send

If you you can club to gether with other producers then the minium qty (4 bags I think? enough for 40-70k litres) can be shared out.

http://www.baynox.com/bac/en/products/baynox/

http://www.baynox.com/bac/en/p...further_information/

Carboxylic acid will attack steel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxylic_acid

Store treated fuel in HDPE IBCs or Stainless steel tanks. Some stell drums are coated with an enamal coating which is resiatsnt to Methyl Esters /veg oil (the addition of a Nitrgon blanket above the fuel will help to minimise air contact.)

At Cambridge Biodiesel we have been using Baynox Plus with all the fuel we have supplied (we add a premix solution into the fuel as it is pumped into our storage tanks. We will be getting our suppplier to add it at the plant. We have a range of vehicles using our biodiesel - good paercantge are PD (Unit injection) and VP37 and the odd common rail. Its piece of mind for us that the fuel isn't going to cause long term damage.


Uncle Slabs

Thanks Uncle Slabs! That was a very usefull post!

I have contacted Lanxess Melbourne . They are a friendly bunch and can help me with a 15 kg bag of Vulkanox BKF which is the same as Baynox Plus (2.2 methylene bis methyl ter butyl phenol)One problem is shelf life: only 2 years. I am looking for someone in North Queensland to share some of that 15 kg. Another question: Storage in plastic (1M3 cubes) and adding on top some argon gas to blanket off the oxygen? How about this brilliant idea??

Is argon a heavy gas? Does it displace oxegen molecules?

Uncle Slabs

Why don't you blanket it off with nitrogen gas.

Its cheapest and inert. This is what we use for blankets.

Yes it will displace oxygen if you give your tank a good thorough blast with it and seal it up air tight when done.

Yes N is probably cheaper than Argoshield but I have a cylinder of Argoshield for my MIG... How about CO²? This is definitly heavier than air and also very cheap?

I got my VULKANOX from LANXESS Melbourne and started to dissolve in some test batches. 1 kg per 1000 litres. It's very light and fluffy, like flour or talc but easy to mix with a mixer (gone the kitchen mixer...) Thanks Slabster.

Heheh! The good thing about this site is that it doesn't wipe off the old posts, so you can refer to them as archive and learn from them. In this case, it was in 2008-9, the last post! In the meantime I still make my BD and solved the problem of tank corrosion by NOT WASHING anymore. Simple. What was happening was that residual water was évaporating during the very hot day (this is God forsaken australian bush) creating a saturated atmosphere inside the tank, then came the cool night and yes you guessed, condensation on the walls of the empty part of the tank. I minimised the problem though never got totally rid of it. I aslo improved on my filters adding a (jam) jar for decantation, plus a small paper filter that I change often then the proper Toyota filter. I don't see any rusty bits at the bottom of the jar, just a lettle bit of glycerin which is no problem.

Some things to consider..

Is the fuel dried properly after processing? You'd be surprised at how many folks simply dry it until its no longer cloudy.. Bad move.. It has to be dry and it has to be tested for water with scientific precision under circumstances like yours.

Are the storage tanks sealed? Moisture in the air can enter the tank(s) when the tanks breath due to temperature and volume changes. While a single night or rainy day isn't going to cause a problem, fuel from large tanks with long turn-over rates can build up a water or algae problem.