Anyone, please help. I have a source of tallow, 4%FFA, less than 1% moisture. I mixed 1000 ml of heated tallow, mixed in 250 ml of methanol with 7.5 grams of NaOh.

I first heated the tallow then added the methoxide. It was quite a violent reaction (done outdoors) but seemed to work. I had the mixture spin/heat for about an hour. I then decanted into a glass separation vessel(enclosed funnel thing). An hour later it looked like i had good separation, two phases. I came back 4 hours later and the top biodiesel portion (very dark) had gelled. Please help.

If I can get this tallow to work I will be investing in a commercial set up. Can anyone help me?

Hi jorge

What did your tallow titrate at? If 1 point titration approx equals 0.75% FFA then it should have titrated about 5.33. Add 5gm base catalyst = you should have used 10.33 NaOH minimum.

Sounds like an incomplete reaction but remember that tallow bio solidifies at a much high temp than oil. May be a combination of the two.