Greetings! Still working on my second batch and I need help. Specifics: 28 gallons of BD(soy WVO) titrated at 4.5, KOH converted with great separation, mist washed 2 times, bubbled 5 times using HARD water, last wash water is almost drinking water clear. I heat up a sample to see how quickly it will clear up and I get a very light, fluffy, barely visible haze that swirls in with the BD. It's not sitting on top or bottom but is mixed in. I actually got the same result on the third bubble wash which prompted me to wash 2 more times. As another test, I added water to sample, shook it then saw a very clear separation in about 10 minutes with very clear water. I decide to do reprocess test to check for partial conversion just because I didn't know what else to do! With a liter of BD, 1 gm of KOH and 75 ml of methanol, I get absolutely no glycerin drop at all, I mean nothing. What has happened is the BD now looks crystal clear! HELP!

BD is still sitting in wash tank just waiting to go to drying tank but I would like to know what the white haze is. Thanks for expert help!

Sounds to me like dissolved water..

Just dry it.. It should go away..

Your re-process test should have gelled a bit after standing if conversion had been practically complete. Candidates for your white stuff are insoluble soaps from the hard water salts doing an ion exchange with the K soap; or wetted out diglycerides. The fuel sounds good to use. Next time be sure your oil is dry, because any water will effectively use up KOH making soap, leaving too little to catalyse all the oil.
Try a Jan W. test for completion too.

Hello david

He used KOH in the re-process so it is not likely to gel apparently.

I thought I was drying the BD!?! I heated the BD sample several times to a point I could not hold the jar in my hand and then let it sit overnight and still had the whispy fluff. I assumed this would have been enought to dry it. What is the Jan W. test?

I did "cooked" a sample of the WVO before processing and had no bubbles or popping so I am fairly confident it was dry.

So should I go to the next stage?

hello Subzilla

The Jan Warnqvist Test

The next stage is filter and put it in your car

quote:

Originally posted by Subzilla:
I thought I was drying the BD!?! I heated the BD sample several times to a point I could not hold the jar in my hand and then let it sit overnight and still had the whispy fluff. I assumed this would have been enought to dry it. What is the Jan W. test?

I did "cooked" a sample of the WVO before processing and had no bubbles or popping so I am fairly confident it was dry.

So should I go to the next stage?

Heating the bio in a jar will not dry it very quickly..
You must spray it through the air..

Try this test.. heat your jar sample just like you did and then pour the sample from jar to jar back and forth while its hot.. You might have to pour it back and forth 10 or 15 times..
Re-heat it up after you do this as it will cool down and see if your haze remains.

Mr. Tilly, I missed all that discussion on the Jan W test last month somehow but I read the thread on it and will put that into my standard operating procedure. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. It's bedtime tonight but I will test it tomorrow.

Murphy, I'll also play musical jars with the BD to see if it will dry. Thanks!

But the last question from my original post: Why did the reprocess test make the sample turn clear and is this liter safe to just pour back into the batch? Or should I save it for the next batch to be washed?

Save it and wash it with the next batch.
Be real careful dumping the hot bd around, i would just move it into the dry tank, via standpipe,(after draining any water out of the standpipe) heat it to 110-120d f and spray dry it, let it cool, it should be clear, filter and put it in the tank...
Jammer

I just read the entire Jan W test thread. It seems that prewashing the BD had some effect on the test results but there was not a consensus on that. Any thoughts? I forgot to mention in my first post that I did a prewash. Also, is it OK to run this test on undried BD?

Now that was my last question. Maybe.