Hey all,
I just want to check my error. Heres the deal, 100LT batch in appleseed,oil titrated at 5ml., I ran short of lye and used abot 750gm and 20LT of meth. The oil was dried and heated to 120*F and then methoxide was mixed for 1hr. I let sepperate for aprox. 8-10hrs. Looked good with the exeption of having 15LT of glycerin (kind of alot). When the wash was started it started nice nice bubles that didn't like to disolve. Now I have a nice big batch of emulsion. Now the question.. This is what I think i did wrong, 1)not enough lye 2) not enough heat 3)not mixed long enough 4) not let to settle long enough. Would this be correct?? Please let me know yalls thoughts.

Using that low of an amount of lye probably caused an incomplete reaction . This makes it alot easier for the emulsion to form . 15 lt of glycerine is not really alot for the size batch you made , if you had used the proper amount of lye you would have gotten around 20lt with oil that high in titration . You can try fixing the problem be mixing the glycerine back in and mixing .

You mean mixing in the glycerine into the wash??

The glyc. byproduct is a two-edged sword, It will cause an emulsion in a wash tank, but at the same time it can be used to break an emulsion. cool huh?

I prefer to let my fuel settle on water for 1 week prior to any active washing. the water on the bottom lets the junk in the fuel settle out into a different substance other then stayng in solution/suspension in the fuel.

Also, let your freshly brewed fuel settle for several days before washing (in an open container) it helps alot. harder for an emulsion to form.

do a search using the "FIND" feature on this forum "breaking an emulsion" you will find several techniques. but be aware that washing is again needed after breaking an emulsion.

I think this will help