I just made a hodge-podge slipshod 1 liter batch to clean some parts and it did'nt work. I did use one l liter of used oil, and 200ml methanol. the batch is just a big blob. it has undergone no separation after 3 hrs and there is no actual liquid in it anymore. according to my little cheesey scale (instead of my nice, expensive, digital) i used 5g NaOH. I have made diesel from this oil before and it turned out beautiful, amber and crystal clear. The obvious factor here is the amount of NaOH used. any one know what happened? too much too little? can I re-react it? by the way, biodiesel works wonders on CV joints.

use veggie oil or tallow or solidified veggie oil??

did you heat it before reaction ??

the more info the better

BC

5 grams for WVO doesn't seem enough to me. 4 grams is necessary for fresh oil so it I were going to react WVO without titration, I'd use at least 6.5 grams or maybe 7 grams to start off with. Although most say heat is not necessary, I find 120-125F(50-55C) is ideal for the reaction. I would also increase the methanol amount to at least 210ml/l with 5g/l (plus titration) NaOH instead of 200. I generally use 250ml/l and 4g/l (plus titration) NaOH for 100% repeatable results.

You can re-react it. Mix up some more methoxide, less alcohol...say 100ml (since there is a bunch in there already) and more NaOH...say 3g and do it all again and see what happens. I don't have a lot of experience in re-reacting so my estimation of amounts might be a bit off. Someone with a bit more experience repairing mistakes might be able to suggest better figures, but the above would be the way I would attempt it.

Except of course the normal ones like getting married, leaving the Air Force, becoming a teacher, having children, buying a house, Not buying apple computers in 1970, etc etc.

Tilly SBC/IBA To err is human div

"Bother" said Pooh when his engine stalled on take-off.

used veggie oil from an upscale rest. in Austin (very good quality, only used once.)

did not heat prior to reaction

mixed methoxide in blender untill all was dissolved, thence, slowly added oil and mixed for 20 min.

the oil seemed rather more viscous than before

it is now the next day and still in full "blob" state. I can't even get it out of my little 1.5l wine jug because it all just slops to the neck and plugs it up

I also, did NOT get married, never joined the air force, and I have no kids (exept for my two dogs)

It's really not a big deal but, I just wanted to know if it is a case of too much or too little.
It would seem to me that the blob is glycerin hence, too much was added or that there was water in my oil.

another factor to consider is that I used my brand new aluminum drum pump to remove the oil from the storage drum. could the pumps packaging lubrication have tainted the oil?

Runonbeer,

I am not trying to be facetious, but did you actually mix the caustic with the meth ?
Having once prepared a cosy supper for my sisters-in -law that had cauliflower cheese as its main item, I forget to add the cheese. . So mistakes do happen
regards
dva

when you put the lye and meth in the blender, you areated it. in essence, about half the product went to baking soda and water.
i addition, if you didnt have the oil warm eneough, some glycerides would not get broken down unles you mixed for 3 days.......

simply take your mixture
get the temp to 180f+ and light the meth vapors so you wont breath them. if there is some steam at 180, there was water so keep going till no more steam.

then, let it cool to 130f, add a 10% meth and about 3gms lye in the meth....stir! as long as it takes so there is no little guys to make soap!
then add to warm oil and give it a full 20 mins.

skippy..been there/done that div.

Well there you go with the answers you have now you should be able to go back and fix or do another batch properly.

As with Jedi and if you look back over many posts you will see that I have advocated the heating of the oil regardless of tallow or oil to 50-55dC. mainly because this is about the best temp to heat your oil to without the risk of flash off of the methanol.

and again for consistant results of production for tallows use 250mil methanol and oils about 200-250 DEPENDING on the titration the reason I say this is the higher the titration the higher amount of tallows and FAAs you have in the oil and the more methanol you need to put i to a max of 250 mil

THIS IS MY THEORY and I am sticking to it many hear will shoot me down but hey I have GC results that are consistant and product that is proven better to ASTM standard.

best thing to do is read read and then read some more especially on this forum.. there is plenty of information hear and some very smart people as well.

BC