I am new to the biodiesel world and am looking for some help. I have been researching biodiesel for nearly and year now and finally completed my processor yesterday.
I heated my oil (approx 20 gallons) in a drum for approx 3 hours (approx 130 degrees)
Transfered the oil to the water heater and let it circulate, mixed my 4.8 gallons of methanol and 925 of KOH and added it slowly, let it mix approx 2 1/2 - 3 hours. I then transfered it to my cone bottom tank. This morning I drained off approx 5 gallons of glyc. I do the 27/3 test and end up with a cloudy mixture, after 5 minutes I have a pea sized sediment amount at the bottom of my tube. The bio is fairly dark and I am unable to read thru it at room temp.
Should I reprocess? If so at what recipe?
Is there a small scale recipe to test it first?

Any help is welcome and appericiated as I am lost.

Thanks

Mike

quote:

I do the 27/3 test and end up with a cloudy mixture, after 5 minutes I have a pea sized sediment amount at the bottom of my tube.

Are you controlling the temp of the test at 68f? If it is cooler, it could be a false fail.

quote:

The bio is fairly dark and I am unable to read thru it at room temp.

The color of bio does not relate directly to quality. Reading through it should be the case if it is washed and dried.

Reprocess is one option. In what will you burn the fuel?

Here is some info on re-process . I don't reprocess. I do 3/27 in process and shut down once/after I pass.

HTH.

Andrew
Thanks for your help.
I will be running this in my Kubota backhoe and mower and once I am certain it's good quality I'll be running it in my F350, 6.0 Powerstroke.

I brought samples of the bio with me to work this evening. I took 100Ml of fuel and added a very scientific amount of meth and KOH. I couldn't figure out how much to use on such a small batch so I added approx 4Ml of meth and 2 flakes of KOH. I let that sit after heating and I have some more setteled glyc, the fuel is still dark and I am unable to read thru it however the 27/3 test is much improved. I have no fallout and it mixes much better than before.

A question about washing. I am processing in my outbuilding and have no water in there. I can run my garden hose down to the building however the wash water would be approx 50 degrees. I could purchase a small water heater to place in the building or maybe even take the tank to my house and run the wash off of my water heater drain. Does hot water make for a better wash. Does anyone know if running the wash water off of the drain will work?


Thanks

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Firemedic:
I heated my oil (approx 20 gallons) in a drum for approx 3 hours (approx 130 degrees)

If this was Celcius, it should have been adequate to dry the the oil, if it was F, you could still have had wet oil. If you aren't sure you should test for water prior to processing.

My experience with 3/27 test is when the mix goes cloudy, there is moisture in the mix. This can come from the methanol absorbing water from the air.

As for failing the test, this typically means too little reactant or methanol, or too short of reaction time or too low of temperature. I find 55 C works well, and 22% methanol.

How did the oil titrate? How fresh and pure is your KOH? NaOH also absorbs moisture from the air and looses strength.

TDIguy2
I heated the oil to approx 130 farenheit, prior to processing. What is the best way to test for water now? The pan test? I heated up approx 100 ML last night and weighed prior and after the heat and was the same both times. The KOH I used was approx 6-12 months old however was sealed. Is there a way to test the KOH for water?
The methanol was in a new drum however is was a rainy wet day when I processed.
The oil titrated with a 1, it is oil used one time for bingo then changed, so I think it's pretty good oil.

Thanks for your help

Mike

I personally don't think 130 F (55 C) is hot enough to dry oil, although others may disagree. In normal use cooking stuff the oil is heated to 300+ F, (150 C) so I heat to about 120 C and hold it there until there are no bubbles rising from the heating element.

As for testing for water, you definitely need to take the sample over the boiling point to get rid of any water.

I use NaOH, which gets real lumpy when it absorbs moisture. I don't know if KOH does the same.

Also did you account for the purity of your KOH? From what I read, it is common for KOH not to be 100% pure so you need to add more.

quote:

My experience with 3/27 test is when the mix goes cloudy, there is moisture in the mix.

Or, if the fuel is going to fail 3/27, or if it is on the pass/fail cusp. Then it will be cloudy but no fallout after 30 min at 68f.