WOW!!! I knew there was a reason I got on here tonight. I've learned something new. I had no idea one was the acid process and the other one was the base process.

I've always just called "it" transestherfication (or is it transestherification?)

Thanks, Graydon!!!

Yes, acid stage is esterification, since FFA is not an ester. Base is transesterification, (changing one ester to another) since triglyceride is an ester, and so is FAME.

quote:

Originally posted by daw:
WOW!!! I knew there was a reason I got on here tonight. I've learned something new. I had no idea one was the acid process and the other one was the base process.

I've always just called "it" transestherfication (or is it transestherification?)

Thanks, Graydon!!!

And now you know the two biggest words in Biodiesel!

I've met a lot of seasoned Biodiesel home-brewers out there that have no clue what it actually means. Plus, it's just a cool word. "Transesterification."

-Graydon

thank you Graydon

First success... Yea... Just made a quality batch using the "World Famous Dr Pepper Technique (Pat Pend)"... Don't worry, the royalty check is in the mail... What can I say the process works, and with 12 year old "new" canola oil...
I did get a few globs of what looks like soap(white solidish waxy looking things) formed in the individual "feet" of the dr. pepper bottle... Bio D is quite good looking otherwise... Gunna wash it tomorrow... How long should I wait for settling to occur before
pouring off the bio d?
This forum is a blessing, as I unfortunately discovered the jtf website first... Ikky...

Thank you in advance for any help.


The smoke don't mean it's broke...

quote:

This forum is a blessing, as I unfortunately discovered the jtf website first... Ikky...

Yes it is."Ikky" has also been refered to as The Cult due to the way it is run. Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your entering the wonderful world of biodiesel.
Do yourself a favour and read The Colaborative Biodiesel Tutorial (linked in my sig line)

Well I washed the bio d today and after about 6 washes the stuff actually looks respectable... Tomorrow I will heat it to remove excess water and see what we get...
I have been studying the water free method and will incorporate this on an upcoming test batch...

Next up is to find some wvo and learn to titrate. Should be great fun. Thanks all...

Hi all. I've been running wvo in my cummins for about a year and a half and am now thinking about making some bd for long term storage and everyday use. I have performed the dr pepper on a new litre of oil. everything looks good so far. What does the bd smell like? Mine kinda smells like butter, like I would not mind it on my toast. I looks like the pics but I thought it would smell different. I did five washes but I dont think I'll wash during production. Any comments would be great!!!

Depends on what you made the bd out of. Mine smells quite similar to the canola oil it's made of.

As far as washing, check out Gram Laming's 1 day process / airwashing.

hey tilly ,,you still alive i see..you dont probably remember me from a few years ago..??i had a go at your dr peper technique for using drink bottles ...
i havent been on for ages i got sick of all the armchair chemists going on and on ..
im still making bd by the 160 lt batch and i dont wash..im on my third car now with lots of km on 100% bd ..i dont have a problem with it at all just keep your filter changed regular..
anyway good to see you still hear ..is biocruiser still on??
cheers chris

Hello chris

Yes, I remember you.
It has indeed been a long time.

Biocruiser still posts from time to time, but not often.
I am glad to hear that your cars never learned they were supposed to fall apart from using unwashed biodiesel.

How can you possibly put 140 degree F oil into a plastic soda bottle?
The oil would immediately change the shape of the bottle. Also, even with gloves, how could you possibly shake the bottle when it's that hot?
Thanks

Also, how do you remove the biofuel from the glycerin once it's settled to the bottom?
and the NaOH that I have is dissolved in water, I think its 50% NaOH, 50% water, could I use that instead of a drain cleaner and how much would I use?

Hello Amy, welcome to the forum

I am sory I missed your post.
I have performed the reaction with oil at a temperature of 62deg C (143deg F) as I poured it into the bottle with no damage to the bottle.
However, I can see your concern and I will change my recomendation from 60deg C or less for WVO to 55deg C or less which is in line with my recommendation for new Vegie oil.

I just pour the biodiesel carefully out of the bottle and may leave a slight bit of biodiesel with the glycerine.

Yes, you can use aqueous NaOH, but at this point I do recommend the anhydrous type.

hello all, like a lot of ppl i have just started doing this. i love it!! i do have a question though. in tilly's way it calls for the "yellow" bottle of heet aka "methyl alcohol". i made a batch last night, didn't have a good scale though so i got a scale today after work and made another batch with the "yellow" bottle. i also grabbed a "red" bottle of heet aka "isopropyl alcohol". the lye just will not disolve in the "red" bottle... i am not even close to being a chemist... my question is, is the red and yellow bottles the same when we use it for BD?? or should i never buy the red bottle again...

thank you and AWSOME FORUM

crash

Hey there Tilly yep still sticking my nose in from time to time

Chris szm yet member you to can I help u ?


BC

Hello crash, welcome to the forum!
The red and yellow bottle are not the same.
Use the isopropanol in the red bottle to do the World Famous Chopstick Titration Technique (Pat Pend)
Use the methanol to do the reaction.

thank you!!!

i must say, this bio diesel thing is the best thing since sliced bread!!

I made my first liter kitchen batch Saturday and have a few of questions. My titration called for 5.2gm of NaOH, so I used Roebic drain cleaner as 100% NaOH and 20% methanol (yellow HEET bottle). I also heated the peanut oil to 130F and used the 4 shakes in an hour method to mix it. I was using penut oil that had been heated to remove the water and had only cooked one turkey at Christmas. I have not done the 3/27 test yet.



1: I tried to titrate my Isopropl alchohol before doing an oil titration, but I never could get the Heet (red bottle) to turn red. Is this a common problem and should I even worry about it?

2: I noticed some sedimentation that can best be described as snowflakes falling to the bottom of my flask.
It was most evident after washing, so I attributed it to remaining water causing formation of soap. It
continued to form in small amounts for 48 hours after the reaction. I drained it off each time I saw it.
It stopped settling after I strained it through a coffe filter twice. Is that a problem and was it soap?

3: After filtering, the product can best be described as apple juice in color. I took it outside this
this morning and exposed it to 42 degree temps whereupon it turned to solid in about 10 minutes. Is
this normal and helped by adding anti-gel agents?
4: What range should my final ph be in?

Thank you in advance for your help.

quote:

Originally posted by Knotwild:
I made my first liter kitchen batch Saturday and have a few of questions. My titration called for 5.2gm of NaOH, so I used Roebic drain cleaner as 100% NaOH and 20% methanol (yellow HEET bottle). I also heated the peanut oil to 130F and used the 4 shakes in an hour method to mix it. I was using penut oil that had been heated to remove the water and had only cooked one turkey at Christmas. I have not done the 3/27 test yet.

Congratulations on your first batch.

quote:

1: I tried to titrate my Isopropl alchohol before doing an oil titration, but I never could get the Heet (red bottle) to turn red. Is this a common problem and should I even worry about it?

I don't think that's common. It should go red if you use turmeric. If you use phenolphthalein it's more of a purplish color. When doing titrations I push for the same color change that I get when blanking the isopropyl.

quote:

2: I noticed some sedimentation that can best be described as snowflakes falling to the bottom of my flask.
It was most evident after washing, so I attributed it to remaining water causing formation of soap. It
continued to form in small amounts for 48 hours after the reaction. I drained it off each time I saw it.
It stopped settling after I strained it through a coffe filter twice. Is that a problem and was it soap?

For some reason peanut oil makes snowflakes sometimes. I don't know why it happens but it happened to me before.

quote:

3: After filtering, the product can best be described as apple juice in color. I took it outside this
this morning and exposed it to 42 degree temps whereupon it turned to solid in about 10 minutes. Is
this normal and helped by adding anti-gel agents?

Different kinds of oil will make biodiesel with different gel points. I use soybean oil and it starts to cloud at about 35°F and is gelled at about 30°F. Mixing diesel fuel or kerosene in it can lower the gel point some. I have never tried anti-gel agents.

quote:

4: What range should my final ph be in?

Final pH of what?

Ken