I have just made my first attempt at methanol recovery and have a large mass of "jello" in the reactor.
This is what I did:
76 liters of WVO, titrate at 2.8. Used 7.9 grams of NAOH per liter of oil and 15.5 liters (20%) total of methanol. Heated the oil to 125 F and it took 25 minutes to ad the methoxide thru' the pump. Mixed for 90 additional minutes.
A sample of the bio after settling overnight passed the 27/3 test..was not cloudy for more that a second and no drop out in two days. I drained the glycerol and
I used the reactor(made from a barrel with a removable lid) to heat the bio to recover some methanol. The bio reached a temp of 210 F.for a bit and the air space above the bio was at 172 F. In 2 hours I recovered 1/2 gallon of methanol. The methanol quit coming out of the still so I let it cool down. The bio that I drained from the plumbing was a nice amber color but 'thick'. When I took the lid off...there is a large amount of amber 'gel' in the bio.
Anyone have any idea what I have done??

"Anyone have any idea what I have done??"

Removed the methanol-- left the soap and any residual glycerol.


ReM

Run it through a 1 micron bag filter and then soap test your biodiesel.

I second that the gel is soap.

-Jim

Thank You both for the reply. I won't be able to get back to it for a day or so, but will try to filter and wash soon.

Is this a common result of heating unwashed bio?

I took a small sample of the 'gel' and heated to about 150 F in a microwave and the gel went into solution and the clear bio became cloudy. Does mean that all the get is soap? I will try to heat the whole amount and wash next. Thanks.