I, as I am sure every other new bio brewer on these boards, want to have the cleanest/best fuel for my vehicle, which makes me obsess over washing and drying. Can anyone give me some feedback on how crazy I should get with this prior to doing my titrations and placing the wvo in the reactor?

Should I water test the wvo and heat it until I get as much as possible out and then passing the frying pan test would be a good indication?

Also, should I wash and let settle prior to doing my titration and putting it into the reactor?

And finally, how many microns are you pros typically filtering down to prior to processing?

Oh yeah, one last thing, in reading the Home Brew Biodiesel book by B100 supply, they reference vacuum pumping as the best way to collect oil. Does anyone have a more detailed schematic of building one of these "super suckers" that I wouldn't have to pay for?

Thanks in advance, I know alot of these questions are pretty basic to most of you but I can't help my OCD

I don't test for water each time, but I do heat, dewater and let settle every batch. I use a GL 1-Day design and manage to distill out at least a cupful of water from each 100L batch.

As for filtering before processing, don't be thinking in terms of microns. Just run it through window screen to get out the chunks that will foul your pump/venturi, etc. Smaller particles will settle out with your glycerol. After demething I filter to 5 microns.

It's a good idea to give a location in your profile so others can give appropriate advice, ie cold weather blending, etc. It would also be helpful to know what sort of vehicle you intend to fuel. Some are much more forgiving than others.

quote:

Originally posted by PbIntoAu:
I don't test for water each time, but I do heat, dewater and let settle every batch. I use a GL 1-Day design and manage to distill out at least a cupful of water from each 100L batch.

As for filtering before processing, don't be thinking in terms of microns. Just run it through window screen to get out the chunks that will foul your pump/venturi, etc. Smaller particles will settle out with your glycerol. After demething I filter to 5 microns.

It's a good idea to give a location in your profile so others can give appropriate advice, ie cold weather blending, etc. It would also be helpful to know what sort of vehicle you intend to fuel. Some are much more forgiving than others.

Thanks for the advice! I will be running it in a 7.3 Powerstroke Excursion and I live in Charleston, SC where it's hot and humid but does get down to the 30's in the winter on occastion.

i am of the other opinion.

I think you should test for water every time via the hot plate test.

If you see bubbles, you should do a weigh-heat-weigh test to get an idea of how much water you have. That way, when you are dewatering you'll have an idea how much you are going to need to get out. Water makes soap, soap reduces yield.

Second, i believe that your oil should be as particle free as possible prior to processing. This one, makes your glycerin product alot nicer, but, also, you should know that food bits actually carry quite a bit of water, which could lead to formation of additional soap, which could then cause emulsions / reduce yield / increase headaches.

Therefore the more work you put in on the front end, the less likely you'll be to have problems down the line. Many people on this forum who are posting with problems have those problems as a direct result of not being thorough on the front end of the process (not checking for water, not understanding how to test for water, not filtering well, not doing a proper titration, etc. etc.) Therefore, if you go about your business in a thorough manner, you will be less likely to make mistakes that will bite you in the end.

I don't water test or filter prior to the process. I have a dryer and run every drop in the dryer first for about three hours. you have to heat the oil anyway so I just let it run in the dryer. After the three hours it goes to the processor. No messing or fussing, just hot clear oil.

Super Sucker!!! Your on the right track with a super sucker. Use any thick wall tank (not a 55 gallon drum). You will need a vacuum pump and a thick wall tank like an air compressor tank, water pump tank or a propane tank. Attach the vacuum pump by way of a hose. I was using a refrigerator compressor but now I use a 12v vacuum pump from flee bay. On the bottom where the drain plug used to be I attached a 2 inch pipe nipple and an elbow to that. Another nipple and a ball valve to another nipple and then a large no-collapse hose (no collapse is very important). The hose goes to another valve , then to another elbow and a 4 foot pvc pipe as a wand. Make good sealed connections on all fittings or you will loose vacuum very quickly. Somewhere on the top attach another valve, 1/2 inch with a air quick connect. This will allow you to charge the tank with compressed air to off load the oil. Now you can draw the vacuum and pull up to the collection barrel. Stick the wand in with the wand valve closed. Open the tank valve and get tot the wand pretty fast. SLowly open the wand valve and hang on. It is early so if I missed something I will check back later. Good luck