i had someone ask me the other day is it possible to use too much KOH? i said i don't think so but would consult with the rest of the other mad scientist.
so what do you think? what is the common base number being used right now?

next question, i've been using AE/base/base for the last several months and my fuel is passing 3/27, and 5/27, prior to bubble washing. the problem i'm having is the emulsions. first wash heat the fuel to 110f add cold water, reheat and bubble for 20 min, emulsion. add 1cup vinager (30gal fuel/15gal water) let sit and slowly drain water. rewash... same problem, same correction. third wash usually works. i don't like using vinager and i'm not set up to mist. most of the stuff i've read is that emulsions are tale tale signs of fuel problems. i let the glycerin settle for 48hours before draining and drain extra, just to make sure. could it be extra KOH causing the problem? any one have any thoughts.
jonathan

I find that it lowers your yield.

Yes Lawn,
As binuya says it can reduce your yield.

When I water washed my fuel, I did it in a drum with cold water from a garden hose. I use KOH and static washed at least 2 times allowing it to sit overnight before draining. I used about 5 gallons of water each time. I introduced the water down the inside of the drum to avoid agitation. After the static washes I then sprayed the water on the fuel from the hose with the nozzle spraying a course mist over the fuel (about 5 gallons). After draining that I gave it a go get em with the hose for the next washes.

The key to avoiding emulsions was the static washes. It really removes a fair bit of soap.

lawn
-too much koh will make more soapand reduce yield.
-about your wash, do you do the 5% pre wash? if not , this really helps. follow that with one or two static washes then bubble. even a very small amount of byproduct in the bio can cause huge problems. i have also been washing with cold water, and that can cause an emulsion faster than washing with hot water. I am told by a chemist that I correspond with, that the ion exchange is much increased with hot water (I don't know what that means, but I will find out) Tom

Someone here once compared it to washing your greasy hands with cold water vs. hot water. The soap and grease break more readily with the hot water.

Remember that with KOH, soap stays in suspension a long time.(Especially with all that methanol in the bio). I also do 2-3 static washes, usually cold and settle a day before switching it out. This helps immensely, as Biotom and DoubleD pointed out. Sometimes, if I can't get to it right away, it will sit for a few days before I drain the last static wash. When I'm ready to proceed, I heat to 120f, mist a few, bubble a few.

The instances I've had problem emulsions, I use salt. For 45 gallon batches with 8-9 gallons of water, I'll dump in about a pound of salt, heated bubble, and it's fine.(I'll do couple extra wash cycles than normal)

Vinegar is not advised.

for the washing thanks for the help, i'll try the static washing first.
KOH usage. i use the dkenny process but i reduce the acid % to .10. on 142 liter batch i use 5gal methanol on acid, 130-f mix till T stops dropping. mix 13L methanol and KOH (base 6+T), process till i can get back to it. take a sample and check 3/27, usually fails. reprocess 4L methanol and 142-284g koh, pass 3/27 and 5/27. sound about right for koh? KOH is 90%. any mods?
jonathan

total methanol is 23%, sorry about the gal and L.
5 gal = 19L

what's too much?

this is a good question..

A long time ago...when I was learn the BD making..long prior to the 27/3 test..

I had batch that did work..or so I thought..no separation..also no thought on base/base processing..at the time..yea THAT LONG AGO!!!

but...
I was using KOH and KNEW from past mistakes that I COULD!!!make glop if I used too much.

well.. this batch didn't work..darn.now what..not separation..darn(i think I used stronger lanuage here!!!)..but wait I know I how to make glop!!! a special talent no less

so I started adding KOH to samples from my batch that didn't work...
well um...at 40g per liter it still worked..Thins about that a second..40G per liter...if I was using a base of 7 that 33g per liter(titration, I know it wasn't this high but 10x) I'm not sure how much more I needed to make it work but it turned out my oil volume was wrong..before you think it was this far off the starting T was less than 3KOH..this was before my AE days..so 10X KOH will still work..unlike NaOH..

-dkenny