I'm just made my first batch of biodiesel from canola oil feedstock and used NaOH. My oil titrated at a bit over 1.5 so i rounded it off to 2 then added 5 as a base number as indicated in my intructions from homebiodieselkits.com. After letting the mixture settle over night i had 48 gallons total with 6.5 of that being glycerin. This glycerin drained off nicely. About 4 hours later i tried draining off a bit more glycerin that had dropped out. It would not flow at all it was very thick. I'm confused at to why this is? is it too much lye? should i have let the entire batch settle for longer then drain all at once? Like i said this is my first batch and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Leachman

What kind of processor are you using? If you are able to reheat the batch do so. When using Naoh you need to drain the glycerin when it is still warm. Usually 1 1/2 to 2 hours is enough settling time.

If you can, start what ever mixing device you have. Reheat the batch to 130*. Shut every thing off and let it settle for an hour or so tdhen drain.

HTH

tIM

I'm using the freedom fueler deluxe 40gallon processor. I reheated the fuel but could not circulate cause the bottom would not flow so i mushed it around with a stick till i got some flow then mixed for a while and let it settle then drained again. Then drywashed the fuel. Light amber color and can read a paper through a mason jar of it. Happy so far. If using KOH then can the glycerin be drained cold? That may work better for me since i'm in Canada where everything is cold haha.

Yes, KOH drains fine at cold temps.

Leachman-44,

Do a serch for Kaoh vs KOH and you will get a lot of input.

I have never used Kaoh, generally it is less expensive and you don't use as much, but as you know the glycerin gets solid Also it doesn't work well on high titrating oil.

If you try KOH, Use 7.8 grams/lt for a base plus your titration. The Glycerin will stay fairly liquid in cold weather if it is not demethed.

Tim

With my system (see sig line) I've only ever used NaOH as the reaction catalyst. I use a dedicated settling tank where I send the reaction immediately after it's done mixing. This tank is equipped with a standpipe the way a water wash tank is, so I can drain the biodiesel from the SP and leave the glycerine behind to be drained later. Using this method there is ALWAYS 02-30 Lt's of glycerine on the bottom. The one and only time I've ever seen stiffening of the glycerine was the first winter when I shut down the system and everything froze up solid. My settling tank has the ability to be heated but never is.

Once the glycerine has had it's methanol recovered then it goes stiff, but until then it happily stays liquid in cubies until I am ready for it.

If you are experiencing stiff glycerine problem I would suggest checking your titration but more importantly the scales you are using. My first experience with cheapo scales caused me a mess and when I compared it to a new quality scale found out that the numbers were WAY off.

HTH