Hello psi3000

Washed biodiesel always starts off cloudy.
The spead at which it drys/clears depends on many things, such as temp, humidity, in the sun or in the shade, is the top open or closed etc.

What do you mean "Do you have to wash clean veg oil?"
Most people do not wash the vegie oil.
Most people either water wash or dry wash or magnasol wash the biodiesel.

I mean do you have to wash the biodiesel if you made it from clean, store bought vegetable oil?

Too wash or not to wash is a (slightly) open question.

Some have used unwashed fuel with no apparent side effects.

Most here agree that it is best to remove the methanol and soaps.

The washing is not related to the WVO being dirty, but to the removal of the remaining contaminants from the BD reaction. If you think you should wash BD from WVO, then you'd also want to wash BD from virgin oil.

HTH.

thanks soo much for the info. I checked my biodiesel made from store bought veg oil and it was much clearer today. I am going to make my tank this weekend and start a batch. You guys rock!

ok so i tried and failed. i had a few problems
so maybe you guys can help me out.
1. the lye i got said sodium hydroxide.
however the composition of the drain cleaner
had crystals, white balls and blue balls.
im assuming oonly the crystals are the hydroxide?
2. i think i may have burned the oil, also oil was used and unstrained. are these problems?
3.i used methyl alcohol gas line antifreeze. is this the same as methanol?
4.the oil was the warm but i didnt have a gauge to get 60degrees when i mixed it with the methoxide.

The methoxide was blue in color. my attempt at biodiesel made a small layer at the top and bottom with a big one in the middle. all are dark browns.

\thanx in advance

quote:

Originally posted by gquatro74:
ok so i tried and failed. i had a few problems
so maybe you guys can help me out.
1. the lye i got said sodium hydroxide.
however the composition of the drain cleaner
had crystals, white balls and blue balls.
im assuming oonly the crystals are the hydroxide?
2. i think i may have burned the oil, also oil was used and unstrained. are these problems?
3.i used methyl alcohol gas line antifreeze. is this the same as methanol?
4.the oil was the warm but i didnt have a gauge to get 60degrees when i mixed it with the methoxide.

The methoxide was blue in color. my attempt at biodiesel made a small layer at the top and bottom with a big one in the middle. all are dark browns.

\thanx in advance

Hi gquatro74. Welcome to the forum.

1. Sodium hydroxide is white in color. It sounds like you tried Draino. Draino doesn't work for biodiesel. Roebic brand "Heavy Duty Crystal" drain cleaner is sodium hydroxide and will work. I don't think any of the liquid drain cleaners will work.

2. Titration is the best way to check how "burned" your oil is. If your oil has any water in it that could cause the batch to fail. Food bits tend to hold water easier than oil so it's a good idea to strain it first. Read CBT: Testing Oil for Water.

3. I'm not sure what kind of gas line antifreeze you tried but Heet gas line antifreeze in the yellow bottle is methanol and will work fine for making biodiesel.

4. I don't use a thermometer when doing test batches either. Floating the capped bottle of oil in a bucket of hot tap water seems to get it warm enough. Once you add the sodium hydroxide dissolved in methanol, seal it up again, give it the recommended number of shakes, and drop it back in the hot water bath.

I'm not sure what you made in your first test batch but don't consider it a failure. It was just a stepping stone to success.

Ken

Hi all,
I've made my first Dr Pepper method batch of biodiesel, using lab-grade methanol and sodium hydroxide, and filtered/dewatered WVO. Everything went beautifully, until I came to the 5th wash. All the washes were going great, but I really shook the 5th wash hard, and after that I have been left with what looks like Tang: orange colored and very cloudy. I've waited two days, and just did a 6th, gentler wash. So, I'm not sure what to do now. Did I ruin the batch, or does it just need lots more time? Would it help to leave it uncapped? Should I give up? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first batch!

I'd leave it un-capped in direct sunlight for a day or two and see what happens. A window-sill would be ideal unless you have small children or pets. Put something under the container so it doesn't get on the finish of whatever surface you decide to put it on. Biodiesel is known to be a good solvent.

Ken

Just made my first test batch. All looks good but I lost a lot of oil/bio diesel in the process. Is this normal?

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I've left it on the windowsill for a couple days, and it does seem to be clearing. If it does clear, should I wash it some more?

Hello Streetcar

It looks good, I would not wash it again.
As you get some practice you will not lose much product.

Great, it cleared up a lot! It now looks much more like other pictures I have seen. So, now what? Should I just take the little water off the bottom and use it, or should I wash it some more, since it formed such an emulsion? When would it be safe to pour into the tank?

Well I (as a newbie) also just made my first 1L test batch using the famous Dr Pepper method. I was planning on using some used oil but my contact had already cleaned the fryers so he just gave me a litre of fresh Canola. After 24 hrs I seem to have gotten good seperation, however the product seems cloudy. I did it in my garage and the room temperature could be causing this. I'll check it again tonight (48 hrs since reaction.) Next I guess it's time to do a wash. One question; How do I remove the good BD from the glycerin? If I go to pour it it seems like the glycerin will come out as well. It doesn't seem like it will stay on the bottom of my container.

I'm a newbe and color blind so I don't think titration will work for me. Does anyone here use a pH meter instead of titration? If so, how do you do it?

Hello SamSla, welcome to the forum

Perform the titration as per the World Famous Chopstick Titration Technique (Pat Pend) and use the pH meter instead of an indicator. A pH of 8.6 is the magic number.

Thanks Tilly. That's just what I needed to know.

hey, did any of yall see the article in Diesel Tech Magazine on Tilly's Dr. Pepper Technique...good write up!

Hi SamSla

You should be fine with just the visual change - even if color-blind, the change is clear and obvious.

Take a look at this page for a comparison...
Indicator Comparison

Can someone please explain the difference between esterification and transesterification?

Esterification is where you use an acid to modify the free fatty acid chains to allow methanol to bond to them to form Biodiesel.

Typically, Sulfuric Acid is used.

Transesterification is where you use a base as a catalyst to break fatty acid chains away from a glycerol molecule and then allow methanol to attach to them.

Typically, Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) or Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) is the base used.

Esterification is commonly called the "Acid" method.

Transesterification is commonly called the "Base" method.

Esterification reactions are much much slower than Transesterification reactions.

If oil titrates really high, an "Acid" method can be used to "lower" the titration down because it modifies the free fatty acid chains into Biodiesel.

Most people will do both an Acid and a Base reaction together if they make Biodiesel.

This is because the Esterification process will allow for higher yields of Biodiesel vs. just using a normal Base method if the oil Titrates really high.

If a normal "Base" (Transesterification) process is used, the majority of the free-fatty acids get converted into Soap instead of into Biodiesel.

-Graydon