Let's say I do a biodiesel batch and don't use any water at all. I seperate the glycerine byproduct and biodiesel and distil them seperately. What percentage of methanol can I expect to recover?
Thanks for the info.

I found the answer. It is possible to recover about half the methanol.
Thanks, mcguyver.

Around half is a bit approximate. It depends on how much methanol you start with, the feedstock and titration etc. With the oil must of us use, about 12% of the original oil volume will be consumed by the reaction. The excess methanol will be available for recovery.

For example, consider 100 litres of oil with 22 litres (22%) methanol used in the reaction.

The reaction will consume around 12%, or 12 litres. Therefore the quantity available for recovery is 10 litres.

Of course this only applies if you get full conversion. If your reaction fails 3/27 there will be more methanol available for recovery.

sooooooooooo about half