Hello I have a fuel meister (foolmeister) the sales guy told me that after I bought the machine that the oil I have cannot become BD so I started looking into the acid last night we tried the acid but we mixed all the methanol and the potassium I have beige stuff in the tank. any suggestions. also after you add the acid to the oil do you drain anything off? or do you just continue the process. Thank You

How long did you run the acid for?
What was the before and after titration?

The FM sales guy lied: ALL biological oil and fats can become BD...it just takes more work and has lower yield depending on its condition.

I don't drain anything off because I have never seen anything that could be drained off. I know there are some who say they get a small watery layer that can be drained: I never have.

And when I acid/base, my glycerin always comes out WAY lighter, and pretty much tan. I can barely tell the difference between it and the BD, and occasionally...I would even say typically...I end up with glycerin in the BD still because I didn't drain completely.

I try to watch for a consistency change...from cleanly entering my drain bucket to starting to splash into my drain bucket: the less viscous BD will splash into the viscous glycerin; glycerin enters cleanly.

Cupnhagen,
would you provide more details on what you did?
it sounds like
you heated the oil
mix the methanol and KOH together
then mixed this into the oil --
then tried adding acid to the mix??

this won't work the KOH and H2SO4 neutralize each other.

Ryan P.
draining is possible I just did some, but it depends on how bad the oil is. if its under 14KOH forget draining. over 18 KOH draining helps. typically when have to drain I see a 4 ml drop in titration right after draining.

-dkenny

quote:

Ryan P.
draining is possible I just did some, but it depends on how bad the oil is. if its under 14KOH forget draining. over 18 KOH draining helps. typically when have to drain I see a 4 ml drop in titration right after draining.

Ahhhh...I'd never seen that nugget of knowledge before. That explains it: I've never done esterfication on oil worse than 11ml KOH, so I've never seen an appreciable amount to drain.

I determined through several experiments using bad oil. with yours of 11..forget draining..it would be a waste of time.

-dkenny

I have not done a batch with the acid as of yet. the way I understand it is you take a titration do the math come up with the amount of acid, start your mixing with the meth and slowly add your acid to the mix. let mix until the tit is at the point you were looking for then finish off with the rest of the meth and the koh.

uh..NO!!!

starting titration - 3 = A
take A times 0.2mls = mls of H2SO4 per liter of oil

put this amount of acid into 60% of the methanol you'd normally use
just poor it in. fast/slow depends on the amount head space you have in you container.
the more space the faster. it WILL BOIL like mad.

then mix this with your oil. after 6-12 hrs check the titration.

when it stops dropping its done..even if it doesn't reach 3. it should be lower than when you started. if not..oops..trash the batch..use methanol recovery to most of the methanol back. this has happened to twice in the last 2+ year of using acid/base processing. so its not likely.

then using the current titration and the other 40% of the methanol add the correct amount of caustic to the methanol..

check with 27/3 before prewashing. it must pass this test.

-dkenny

I just read this post by dkenny Which I think is on the lines of the method I should use?? -my oil titrates at 7 but I must check my latest batch of course before processing. . I'm using KOH for my second stage. I introduce my chemicals by the suction side of my pump when the temp of the oil is 134F so it is mixing immediately with the oil & the flow of chemical is controlled. with my oil titrating at 7 or therabouts do you think it is not necessary for me to drain anything after the acid stage has completed???but to proceed to the second stage & introduce the KOH methoxide the think is though what amount KOH by calcs... Here's hoping for some good advice.. Thanks & regards

I just read this post by dkenny Which I think is on the lines of the method I should use?? -my oil titrates at 7 but I must check my latest batch of course before processing. . I'm using KOH for my second stage. I introduce my chemicals by the suction side of my pump when the temp of the oil is 134F so it is mixing immedia