I have been given the media from a person who shut down there operation .I also have pick up two of the pop syrup kegs to use as columns.I will be making 50 gal batches and letting them settle for a few weeks to a month before running them thru the columns.I have been making bio for a few years now and have had good results with water washing other than the time and the amount of water needed to wash with. I am on a well and have cold water and a moderate mineral content.If I heat the water up like when doing methanol recovery I get faster results.

I have read to de meth and not to de meth. I did a sample of my last batch Leaving a QT with a little glycerol on the bottom and one with none and the sample with none cleared up to almost crystal clear in one week. When I poured of the bio I had a soap or clear glycerin layer on the bottom of the jar. So I am thinking that if I leave the batches to settle most of the soap will fall out.


I was going to use Jeff Brandt's (Sunbreak Biodiesel) basic design I have been out to see his set up and was going to do it like he does but OI have now picked up to of the chemical feed pumps to use instead of gravity.

Welcome to the world of the unwashed.

Sounds like you have it all figured out and are on your way to less work in producing BD. I would definitely demeth the BD as it enables the soap to fall out of solution.

My resin purification set up. Perhaps offer a few ideas ?

Banshee,
If you can settle for a few weeks to a month you may not even need the resin tanks. I start out with nice dry feedstock and am very precise with the chemistry, titrating down to the tenth of a milliliter. I react at 135F with 22 percent methanol and a KOH base of 8. It just doesn't make much soap. I do a 5 percent cold water prewash, settle out the glycerol over night, and then demeth using a venturi on the processor and a "plumbers delight" condensor. I recover about 2 liters off a 175 liter batch. Then I bubble air through the still hot unfinished fuel for about 12 hours to drive off any remaining methanol. I settle for 2 weeks at most and then heat to 115F, circulate to dry with a fan, cool and then filter through a CAT 2 micron filter. I've been putting together a soda pop keg filtering system, but haven't yet put it into use. My last soap titration showed only 150ppm, so I'm really in no hurry. If you have the luxury of the settling time you mentioned, you definitely don't need to be water washing. That's just wasting water in my opinion. Good luck!

Hi Banshee, its unnecessary to settle for so long. Its better to make the biodiesel, leave overnight to catch any residual glycerol then do your dry washing. After that you can let it settle for a few days if you like, but not weeks or months. In fact, leaving biodiesel so long might incur oxidation and microbial problems. Adding a little RUG will discourage microbial growth.

quote:

Adding a little RUG will discourage microbial growth.

Really, Jehu?
Like How much %?
I'm making more bio than I can use.
I wonder about the fuel going bad/rancid.

I keep it sealed in a drum blanketed with inert welding gas, for now.

Brian

I am not sure about RUG.I was using this to blend for winter use, but am now under the impression it may be wrong. It has a high octane and you need high cetane the higher the octane the lower the cetane? If you want to stop microbial action use a biocide there has been a few mentioned on here.
I would also perform 50/50 shakem test and find the ph of the water to keep a check for acidity and deterioration

Weldshop, as far as I know petrol kills everything. I'm not saying it will keep biodiesel from oxidising or make it last indefinitely. Bear in mind that petrol itself goes off, like the stuff in my boat engine which is stored over the winter. I'm suggesting RUG as a short term cure for microbial growth.

Gilfish, its quite common to add RUG to biodiesel. Water content and pH are quality issues with the biodiesel itself which RUG isnt going to cure.

How many times are you circulating settled bio through the wood chips and/or resin? Only once?

Thanks
Doug