Hello all,

I am wondering about the proportional relation between liter amount of wvo and methoxide mixture with the mixer motor horsepower. Let say for mixing process of 70 liters of wvo + methoxide, what is the maximum power of the motor will be required? The shaft has diameter of 1.5cm and 65cm length with propeler diameter of 15cm.


Thanks,
Nicholas

It depends on too many factors to give a simple answer. Chemical engineers get degrees based on years of studying this sort of thing, as it's just not straightforward and depends on a lot of the characteristics of the materials being mixed and the type of mixing container.

Mostly what I think would matter here is:

-temperature of the oil and there fore it's viscosity
-amount of methanol used
-amount of soap formed, if the soap is NaOH based
-shape of the container- is it a flat vat or a tall cylinder
-amount of water in the oil- I've noticed that watery oil makes a glycerine that separates faster from the biodiesel, which means it also takes methanol out of the reaction zone quicker
-how you introduce the methanol to the container.