I have tried using Magnesol but had a few problems i hope to overcome. Methanol removal seems to be a must as stated by Nuculer. And I think putting it in and then filtering it back out was kind of a pain. Any suggestions, Nuculer? The guys at the local co-op said that someone associated with Magnesol told them that there weren't any particles smaller than 40 microns, but my own experience says that is false. I was thinking about putting the magnesol in a 1 micron felt sock type filter and tying it up and throwing it in my settling tank of meth-free BD, like a spice bag of sorts. Or maybe trying to slowly filter the oil through the sock full of magnesol. It would save having to filter it all out and also seems like a better way to recover and reuse the powder. I think you can just let the stuff evaporate off and reuse it.
Any more interest in this topic out there? I will continue experimenting.

I've just about got my new set up finished which will allow me to make 55 gals at a time. I'm planning on adding the magnesol in a conical settleing tank that will have a pump that will circulate BD from the bottom and into the top. After it is fully mixed (20 minutes), I will switch the flow so it circulates through an X100 bag housing (filterbag.com) at 5 microns before shooting back into the top of the conical tank. I also have some 1 micron bags to try. Hopefully that should get rid of the mag.

As for recovering the magnesol, I think you will have to add water to it and agitate it to get the soaps and stuff out. With 55 gallons at a time, I plan on doing many tests.

My supplier for Magnesium Silicate gave me the follow specs on the particle sizes:
12% will be under 2 microns
4 % over 63 microns

I'm setting up something similar & will let the Bio/MagSil settle for 2 weeks before filtering the final fuel into a vehicle. I'll give the 1 micron bags a try as well.

So far my tests have shown 95-98% does settle out, so there should be minimal particles left to filter out. I've set up stand pipes in the bottom of my settling tanks which should leave lots of MagSil to clean out over a period of time.

Cheers

Tony

Nuculer, what is your recipe? At one point I think I remember you saying you had gotten it down to a 16th of an ounce per gallon. Is that still what you are doing? Results are good with this much? What kind of tests have you done on the finished product?
-john

Yes I had what appears to be great results with 1/16 oz Magnesol per gallon of BD. After bubble drying the BD to get the meth out I added the Mag and shook for about 20 minutes. I gravity filtered through a 5 micron bag filter. It was crystal clear BD. I then added about 1/3 water to about 2/3 BD and shook it. The BD rather quickly separated from the water which was also crystal clear. (Eventually I separated the BD from the water, bubble dried the BD and used it.) I did this with several samples to confirm. My other test is that I routinely burn "dry washed" BD in my Yanmar generator. Unlike others, I can't detect any Magnesol particles in the BD. Perhaps if I used a microscope I would. One point I have made in the past is since restaurants use Magnesol, ditatomaceous earth, and other fine powdered "clays" to lengthen their fry oil's life, the particles are already in the waste oil. Restaurants sure don't use 5 or 1 micron bag filters. In addition to what I posted above, after I am done pump-mixing the BD I plan to let it settle in the conical settleing tank, and drain out the Magnesol that falls to the bottom. Then I will circulate the BD through the bag filer/housing combination. If that doesnt get the magnesol out I'll add another filter. We'll see how it goes in non-lab conditions, hopefully next week.

This earlier thread has some relevant information and links. here

Ant!

Good to have you back.

Diff

Thank you Diff that is very kind of you.

I'm busy trying to get a bio business started in the real world but came back for a visit.

Will dissapear again when things get too busy out there.

But come back when I get on top of things.

Nuculer,

How long do you bubble dry to get the Methanol out?

Tony

wELL i RECENTLY MADE SOME COTTONSEED bd, ONLY OUT OF CURIOSITY AS THE LEGAL SITUATION IN Aus makes me a blender...

GOt a lot of cloudy stuff at the bottom and after decanting most of the clear stuff I washed the residue with water, glycerol byproduct, salt water and still had clouds of what I presume to be soap in the BD phase but at the bottom on the water phase.

On impulse I removed all the water I could and, applying some blender filtration skills, filtered through a 1 micron industrial filter. I obtained a clear BD with a small 6" diameter flat bubble of water on the bottom with visible clouds of white particles in it. The filter process slowed visably during this operation showing that crystals were trapped in the filter and partially plugging it, much the same as the goop in cold oil.

I boiled the water away and had clear hot BD. Left it to cool and white material again crystalised on the bottom... no visable water.

I filtered this through the 1 micron filter again and got clear golden BD. Unfortunately I could not apply this to the fuel tank of my beast, things being what they are here but for your consideration...

Tony:
Sorry, I'm still experimenting. My main drying technique so far is to pump/spray the BD into the top of a 100 gallon poly conical tank. I also have a drum heater fitted in the tank which keeps it at 140 F (works like the famous heater spear (Pat. Pend.). I am going today to "Big R" farm supply store to buy a pond areator I saw there to see how it works too. I'll post results when I'm through.

I guess I should add that I ordered a vacuum pump yesterday and plan to eventually use it to dewater the oil and to recover methanol. Mike Briggs has maybe succeeded in these two tasks. He says he'll have more info on that plus perhaps his experiences with Magnesol in a couple weeks. Nuculer

Nuculer, I've been blowing compressed air into small batches (about 2 ltrs) for 2-3 hours which seems to remove most of the methanol.

After adding the talc, shaking & then filtering to 1 micron, the end product is crystal clear.

I'm using an appleseed reacotr, & dont know if its possible to remove the methanol by leaving the vent open & splash pumping the fuel around. Any experience if the meth will vent off, or will it just condense on the top of the reacotor & re mix with the Bio?

Cheers Tony

I'm still removing what i presume is soap by filtration, I've found even a 5 micron filter works and gums up with the white cloudy stuff. This time withour washing first.

The filters wash out perfectly in hot water without any cleaning chemical added.

Are you finding any difference by adding the talc to BIO without Methanol vs BIO with Methanol.

With no Meth, the talc seems to take more soap out, but I dont if the difference is worth worrying about.

What % of talc are you using?

I just ordered 5 8oz packs of Magnesol to play with . I was thinking of trying the glyc prewash and then using the Magnesol , has anyone tried this with any success ? Or , am I going to have problems with the water content after the prewash ? I am planning to try small batches in test scenario to begin with . Just hoping to avoid a big mess if someone has already thought of this . Any input is appreciated .
Thanks ,
Shannon

Hi Shannon,

My tests have shown that the results are much better after the glyc prewash.

After the prewash, remove the glyc/water & then add the talc & mix. I've been letting it sit for about a week to let most of the talc settle out before filtering.

tony

Thanks for the tip , I will try that . I was also thinking of trying to filter it after one day of settling , but using a two stage filter . I will try both and post the results .
Shannon

This is a long thread on this topic but what is the motivation? Many people use unwashed biodiesel, which must contain soap, without problems so why all this effort to get soap out?

Neutral , I was under the impression that the engine I have in particular was very sensetive to excess methanol and soap . I believe I also heard something about the water content being alot easier to control with the washed fuel . From what I have heard free water will destroy the IP on my truck . I guess what I am getting at is , arn't most of the people using unwashed fuel doing so with older diesel engines ? My trucks are 98.5 Dodge 24valve Cummins with the VP44 pump on them . I also have a 1964 Ford 4000 diesel tractor that I have run unwashed fuel in with no problem , but it is a much older engine with no electronics or sensors in the pump . I am still new to this and am still in the learning process . I am happy for any advice you have . Thanks ,
Shannon