I may be wrong about this but, I wouldn't mix it up again after settling for a week. At this point neutralizing the glycerin byproduct doesn't seem to make sense. You might still want to neutralize the BD. I am not even sure about that.

I think what Jon has been talking about is WBD which is a great idea as it allows you to go strtaight from processing to demething without losing too much energy from the batch cooling off. If you already have separation, there is no reason to remix IMHO.

That is basically the whole point of the WBD, you go from processing to demething while the whole batch is still hot.

Yep.

I was coming to a similar conclusion, that's why I asked. I think that after settling for a week, I can go straight to the wood shavings.

When I process the next batch I will do the WBD when it's still hot.

Update,

This last batch came through much better than the last due to using a mixture of fresh and recovered methanol.

I let the batch settle out for a week (the previous Saturday is when I started). I drained the glycerin off while it was cold and proceeded to do a methanol recovery on the biodiesel which yielded a methanol purity of 95% which is much better than previous.

I allowed the biodiesel to cool over night in the reactor and filtered to 5 micron before addition to the sawdust column. Fuel was sparking clear and looked quite good, I however didn't have any small amounts of methanol on hand for a 3/27 test.

I did notice a froth developing on top of the sawdust column from pumping the biodiesel in. I remarked previously that it looked like Guinness foam. The foam this time was about half to a third less than what was seen in the previous batch. The electric pump that I'm using to fill the sawdust column may be whipping air into the biodiesel but I feel that this is a remote possibility.

This last batch is currently settling through the filtration column as you are reading this. I'll check on it tomorrow. My friend's TDI is having some power loss issues on the fuel that I have been giving him as rent to use his shop for biodiesel production, so I need to nail down these issues so that he and his wife aren't stranded at the side of the road.

Again, my heartfelt thanks for all your help and input thus far on this and yet many issues to come.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Spencnaz,

Spence, are you doing any soap testing on ur final product? if so what results are u getting?

I still have to master the soap test. I will keep this thread going to post the results.

You don't need to neutralize with acid, there are lots of folks in the UK doing WBD with no problems as long as you only recover the excess methanol you will be ok, as for froth/foam on top of bio it's probably MD's and TG's and soap, I've seen it if the bio doesn't get an instantly clear pass in the 3/27 test, cause is usually wet wvo.

Try the bubblewash method! Use H2SO4 as an additive to the wash water. Keep it heated. Enjoy



Biofuel1


NC

DC

No wash tanks, thanks for the input though.

Update:

I have been mixing a specific amount of acetone into the biodiesel at a ratio of 2 ounces for every 10 gallons as a mileage improver. Now before you all start quoting the gospel of Mythbusters, I have extensive data to back up the mileage boost claims. It's not a huge improvement in mileage but it does help. I have found it works best with dinodiesel, but it shouldn't hurt to use it with biodiesel.

I did some tests as to the miscibility of acetone in biodiesel and found it to go completely into solution with the biodiesel with no apparent drop out in the sample. The theory I have is that acetone acts as a surface tension modifier and may help to dissolve any MG DG and TG that might be still in suspension. There are more tests that I have to research to confirm or deny my hypothesis.

I will be gathering supplies for the soap test here in the next few days as well. One question I do have is with the hydrochloric acid required, is muriatic acid the proper concentration for this operation in terms of molarity?

Interesting hypothesis, Im interested in hearing your updates.

It depends on what hydrochloric acid you get. You want 0.01 molar for the soap testing. The stuff I bought is 0.1molar. Therefore I have to mix 90g water to 10g acid to bring it down to the required 0.01M.

In the mean time, dont forget the 50/50 biodiesel water shakem up test to use as a soap indicator on ur final product

quote:

I have been mixing a specific amount of acetone into the biodiesel at a ratio of 2 ounces for every 10 gallons as a mileage improver.

You are not alone on your beliefs. There was a discussion about a year ago where several on the forum believed that acetone improves their fuel mileage. I tried it with dino diesel a few years ago and really didn't notice a difference. I tried it in the wife's car and didn't notice any difference. I still haven't tried it with BD, but I still think it is BS.

The only case I know for sure that it worked was with a mechanic friend of mine & his buddies' boss.
They were siphoning gas out of his car every other day. He started complaining about bad gas mileage. They suggested adding acetone and quit siphoning gas out of his tank. He now swears by it.

I kept meticulous records and was showing an improvement of about a mile per gallon with dinodiesel. The data is still out on biodiesel as I've not been taking notes on acetone addition with methyl esters nor using it with great frequency.

Acetone was used as a detonation inhibitor in Grand Prix and Indy cars from the 1930's and up to the late 1950's. It was usually mixed in a small percentage, typically around 1% or less. It had similar detonation dampening properties to TEL (tetra-ethyl lead). I won't know about the surface tension modification properties of acetone in biodiesel until I talk with a professional chemist and see if there is anything happening there. In the mean time, I will be adding acetone in the ratio described above to my biodiesel batches after dry washing and logging the results and effects.

I appreciate your efforts and look forward to your results. Maybe start a new thread specific to acetone usage in BD?

Yes, that is a good idea. I don't want 'scope creep' to start growing into this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Spencnaz:
Update:

I have been mixing a specific amount of acetone into the biodiesel at a ratio of 2 ounces for every 10 gallons as a mileage improver. Now before you all start quoting the gospel of Mythbusters, I have extensive data to back up the mileage boost claims. It's not a huge improvement in mileage but it does help. I have found it works best with dinodiesel, but it shouldn't hurt to use it with biodiesel.

I did some tests as to the miscibility of acetone in biodiesel and found it to go completely into solution with the biodiesel with no apparent drop out in the sample. The theory I have is that acetone acts as a surface tension modifier and may help to dissolve any MG DG and TG that might be still in suspension. There are more tests that I have to research to confirm or deny my hypothesis.

I will be gathering supplies for the soap test here in the next few days as well. One question I do have is with the hydrochloric acid required, is muriatic acid the proper concentration for this operation in terms of molarity?

You have to make an .01 normal solution, it's not all that hard I'll see if I can find the directions.

Fab,

I have the directions here, printed out. I will have to wait on the Bromophenol Blue indicator. I have some ordered from eBay at the correct concentration for the titration.

quote:

I will have to wait on the Bromophenol Blue indicator.

If you have a PH meter Reece posted a technique on page 3 of this thread how to use one for soap titrations instead of the blue stuff...
Jon

I don't have a pH meter as well. I had one a very long time ago, but it is no longer of this world.