yes but in a sealed system the oxygen is consumed by the corrosion so the corrosion must stop.

AFTER HOW MUCH CORROSION - PERHAPS IT'S THEN TOO LATE!

Brand new auto coolant has corrosion eaters that work very well: I use this to clean rust off of parts, old tools, etc. If you use glycol and an insulated tank to hold hot glycol in, a small pump can feed a copper pipe in the bottom of the reactor to heat the oil. The glycol will also help prevent corrosion. If done this way, the same collectors can provide heat for dewatering, reactor, methanol recovery, and washing (pre heat water).

Wow! That Solar heating WVO post has attracted a few hits. An update...Well, the 'ol solar panels are still working fine at heating up the WVO (up to 450 litres). Had to replace a few of the 55 watt pool pumps that circulate the oil... most of them are cheap plastic things and the mounts eventually break...otherwise things are going well. Er.. I had to replace a panel when a cow trod on the glass and smashed it!!

I highly recommend used solar hot water panels for heating oil. Very efficient and cheap!
Scube

Hi Scube,
Great to hear that someone out there realized tapping the sun's energy isn't that far off into the future.
I just took a class on solar, and I am really stoked about designing a solar heater to run the biodiesel reaction. I was hoping you had the time to answer a few questions for me...

What model solahart are you using and what size? to heat that many Liters of oil, i'm guessing quite large 4-5 m^2 range?

Are you still using Veggie oil as the heat transfer fluid?

Does the system automatically turn the pump on to maximize heat gain? or do you do it manually?

How do you maintain the reaction temperature throughout the reaction period?

I will probably have more questions as I delve into designing a small scale solar heated system. Anyone else out there working on such things?

Thanks!! Solar for the win!

~Ryan

Hi tokashila,
Ok I can answer some of those questions right now,
the others I will have to get some more info for you.
What model solahart are you using and what size? to heat that many Liters of oil, i'm guessing quite large 4-5 m^
Don't know the model, have to check. Using two panels- 4 square metres is prob right.

Scube
Are you still using Veggie oil as the heat transfer fluid?
I am circulating the vegie oil directly through the panels to heat up the oil for the reaction. if that is what you mean then yes!
Does the system automatically turn the pump on to maximize heat gain? or do you do it manually?
The system is simple, no automatic pumps or anything. Sunny day and i want to make some fuel, I go and turn on the pump in the morning.
Oil is circulating and heating up. I leave it for 3 or so hours and feel the side of the tank to see how hot it is.
How do you maintain the reaction temperature throughout the reaction period?
As soon as the oil is drained out of the storage tanks it is losing heat so I basically prepare to make the fuel as soon as I drain the tanks into my reaction vessel.
I should get around to posting some photos eh!!