Today, as I was in the last stages of preparations to have my first try at the "Dr. Pooper Method" I selected what seemed to be the perfect vessel in which to shake the methoxide and peanut oil mix: a 3 liter clear plastic (#1 recycling code, PETE) jug from genuine Italian Bertolli olive oil. First I heated 2 liters of peanut oil to 120C. and then started to let it cool, but I got a little impatient, and when it was only down to about 80C. I poured it through a coffee filter into the plastic jug.

The jug began to shrink just like some of that heat shrink insulating tubing for repairing automotive wiring circuits! By the time it stopped shrinking, I had lost some of my 2 liter batch because the jug shrunk down to about 1.75 liter capacity.

I shall have to be more patient next time, or find a different type of clear plastic. What are Dr. Pepper jugs made of?

Life is like a beaver colony: one dam problem after another.

Icky............ You guys gotta stop using those plastic pet pop containers for your mini tests... Why don't you consider using the glass snapple bottle for your tests.....?? The bottles are strong and are not affected by the methoxide. They won't be caving in on you, and are the perfect size at 473 ml or 16 oz....... Just put some water in a pan on your stove, put in your snapple bottles (with oil), and heat to 60C. Then add your methoxide and give it 40 shakes. Then just put it on your window sill for overnight settling.... I use three bottles with 3 slightly different amounts of KOH, and in the morning I will know exactly how much methoxide to add for that particular oil (and I don't have to worry about the bottles either blowing up or caving in......)

Give it a try as this method of using pet bottles has got to be stopped before one of us gets blasted with hot methoxide.........

OCH,
three points.
1) Just what is a snapple bottle ?
2) If it is glass, and should it burst, then surely it is more dangerous than a PET bottle.
3) Ichabod Schloppenheimer III admits to being impatient and putting in the oil whilst it was too hot. From personal experience I know that the results are exactly as he said. But that is down to bad operator practice and no fault of the bottle. There must have been thousands of tests successfuly carried out at the recommended temt of around 55c. The answer is clear, be carefull.
regards
dva

Oil can is right. Glass is non porous,chemically neutral and very clear (to test for cloudiness) and is the norm in a lab! Pyrex is even better but those fruit juice jars with a medium size neck and twist cap look so much like they have been made for backyard chemist that I have to tell the supermarket cashier that I am not making biodiesel, simply love the pink grapefruit juice!
I use cut out PET upside down for separation and bottom drain. DVA how do you make a glass bottle to explode while mixin BD?

Formerly trading as "Wotanozzle" in Pontoise France

for the production of biodiesel, and only contains that dark ambrosian necter of the gods as a means of intising people to buy their very own Biodiesel reactor.

Tilly SBC/IBA Dr Pepper Div

The management of this establishment is not responsible.

DVA......... Sorry that I didn't mention that snapple is a juice drink that comes in a really nifty clear glass bottle with a really good locking top...... The snapple bottle will surprise you in how much pressure it will stand up to without bursting,,,, but to satisfy my own curiosity I took one of these bottles, drilled a hole in the lid put in a 1/4" copper tube, epoxied it in and pressurised to 50 psi with no explosion....... So no surprise that it can withstand the couple of psi that is generated in the Tilly shake........

Just let me work on your next nuke

Are you refering to the DT's I've been experiencing lately?

Tilly SBC/IBA Shake rattle and shake div

You can listen to thunder after lightening and tell how close you came to getting hit.

If you don't hear it you got hit, so never mind.

Go ahead and use a 2 liter soda container! When you get chemically burned to the bone, thank Tilly! You should be using plastic liquid detergent or bleach containers! I've seen the bottle of one of the soda containers melt and spill!!

Cooking Oil Conversion Kit
http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/biofuel/yohn

Greg

Greg, I don't know what chemicals you are using to make biodiesel, but I have had NaOH, Methanol and a combination of both on me and I did not recieve chemical burns.

The NaOH does tingle though.

Hey, did I tell you my numbered Swiss bank accounts had gone up by over a million dollars (US) last night.

This Dr Pepper Technique (Pat Pend) that I invented all by myself certainly has me rolling in the dough.

Now if you want to talk about burns, just splash a bit of boiling glycerine on your arm. That is a real waker-upper.

Tilly SBC/IBA Money div

Let's organize an anarchy

[This message was edited by Tilly on 17 September 2002 at 12:43 AM.]

Is your company just selling Greasle SVO kits or is it a new system you and Steve have designed?

If I am not mistaken:
SVO= Straight Vegetable Oil and is the system of heating oil to reduce it's viscosity instead of changing the oil to Methyl esters (Biodiesel) and has nothing to do with whether the oil is new or used.

WVO= Waste Vegetable Oil and can be used in a SVO system or to make biodiesel as well as feeding to pigs.

Tilly SBC/IBA Pedantic alphabet devision

Tilly:

WAKE UP!

Losing the use of your hand or gettting poisoned with the lye and methanol by using Dr. Pepper is reprehensible!

Cooking Oil Conversion Kit
http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/biofuel/yohn

Greg

Oh, come on Greg,

Do you mean to tell us that you don't wear proper protective clothing (goggles, gloves, apron, respirator, etc.) when you work with methanol and lye?

(OK, I don't wear the goggles, but I do wear protective lenses.)

Do you also mean to tell us that you do not have running water and or vingar on hand to neutralize spills?

While Tilly tends to be a bit tounge-in-cheek (I don't want to know who's tounge or who's cheek) I think as long as we all take appropriate saftey measures as we should when working with chemicals, it remains safe.

I am pioneering the Poland Spring technique as we don't have that many Dr. Pepper bottles kicking around. And at that, it's just mini batches to check my measurements for the chemicals (100ml oil in a 1 liter bottle).

All kidding aside, Work Safe, Play Safe, BE Safe.

Greg, I am starting to think you're losing the use of your brain.

All seriousness aside, I'm having concerns with refrence to your mental stability. Perhaps a visit to your local psychiatrist would be in order. May I suggest you have some clothes packed before you go see him just in case.

I am disappointed that you didn't answer my other question about your SVO kit.

Well Greg, this has been fun, but I see my Secret Numbered Swiss bank Accounts need emptying again.
Will people never stop sending me money?

Tilly SBC/IBA Chemical burns div

Remember: If you throw dirt, you're losing ground.

lost the use of my hand, and been poisoned by the lye and methanol. It is reprehensible!!!

And it was all because I followed Greg's advice and used a snapple bottle.

Oh if only I had used a Dr Pepper bottle and kept the temp below 60 deg c like Tilly recommends I would still have all ten Nose-Pickers in perfect working order.

But instead I followed Gregs advice and put 80deg oil in a handgranade snappel bottle, added the methoxide and shook.

BOOM!!!
How was I to know?

Now I'm in Tilly's intensive burns division hoping for the best.

The worst part is that Robin and I have to stop practising our Mouth-to-mouth resussitation.

Woe is me. Oh Woe is me.

Does the Bat cave have adequate ventilation? Why weren't you wearing your batgloves? You know, the ones with the gauntlets.

Inquiring minds...

JohnO

Q: Does the Bat cave have adequate ventilation?
A: Not when Robin eats boiled cabbage. In this situation we hook him up to a pipe leading to the batmobiles carburator.

Q: Why weren't you wearing your batgloves? You know, the ones with the gauntlets.
A: because I had lent them to Greg. He saidhewasgoing (Iampracticinggermanhere) down to the "Cross" and the "ladies" really dug men with gloves; especially ones with gauntlets.

Die fledermaus

[This message was edited by Batman on 18 September 2002 at 10:27 AM.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Batman:
lost the use of my hand, and been poisoned by the lye and methanol. It is reprehensible!!!

And it was all because I followed Greg's advice and used a snapple bottle.

---

FALSE!!!!!!!

Next time read what people post instead of making up stories. Never have I suggested a glass bottle. Clearly, I said a plastic jug suitable for bleach. Next time, get your information correct!!

Cooking Oil Conversion Kit
http://www.webconx.dns2go.com/2000/biofuel/yohn

Greg

We are broadcasting to the world on here so Greg is right to point out the risks.

We have to be sensible, but equally over cautious never gets anything done and can create his/her own hazards...

Imagine Mr Mega safe with chemical weapon proof oily bat gloves, apron and goggles. The oily gloves flert his glass bottle across the room. It breaks and he trips over his super safe rubber apron while trying to clean up the mess. Then he slips again on the mess, because his goggles steamed up.

Biodiesel demands an understanding of what we are dealing with, sensible precautions and bucket loads of common sense. The pure chemicals are nasty, but they wont jump out on you unless you do something stupid.

I've found 0.5 litre PET bottles fine for test batches at 50C, but for anything larger I'd use metal containers.

If building something make the effort to do a "No Touch" setup. It's not that much more hassle than making a bodge processor and long term it will get more use.

Help! Help! Help! I've been chemically burned to the bone,

lost the use of my hand, and been poisoned by the lye and methanol. It is reprehensible!!!

And it was all because I followed Greg's advice and used a plastic liquid detergent or bleach container.

Oh if only I had used a Dr Pepper bottle and kept the temp below 60 deg c like Tilly recommends I would still have all ten Nose-Pickers in perfect working order.

But instead I followed Gregs advice and put 80deg oil in a handgranade plastic liquid detergent or bleach container, added the methoxide and shook.

BOOM!!!
How was I to know?

Now I'm in Tilly's intensive burns division hoping for the best.

The worst part is that Robin and I have to stop practising our Mouth-to-mouth resussitation.

Woe is me. Oh Woe is me.

FWIW: Today (September 19) is Adam West's birthday.
He's something like 72 years old.