I MIXED IN MY CHEMICALS AND LET MIX FOR 3-1/2 HRS. AFTER LETTING SETTLE FOR 10HRS I CAME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THERE WASN'T A SEPARATION OF THE GLYCEROL. THE OIL WAS A DARK COLORED COMPARED TO TEA. COULD IT BE THE LACK OF KOH?

Newworldoils
-seems like your conversion wasn't very good, did you try 3/27? I would try to repo a 1 ltr batch, to see how much koh it will take to push the reaction without adding too much caustic. Tom

Tom is right to recommend a small batch to test the conversion because it sounds like you need to push it further. Do not try to convert the larger batch until you have some idea as to the failure.

There could be other causes at play here also. Was the oil dry? What temperature were you processing at? What was the titration of the feedstock? What amount of KOH did you use? How much methanol? How large a batch? Was the methoxide completely mixed? Did you follow a recipe from JTF?

Give us some more insight into your process.

Norman

I am not positive if the oil is dry or not. If the oil isn't dry could it cause the methoxide to neutralize and not react properly? The batch was 190gal, titration at 12 and used 38gal of methanol and 24.04lbs of KOH. Processed at 135 degrees. What is the best way to see how much water is in the feedstock? I have a plastic processor, so i am only able to get the temperature to around 145. Thank you for the help.
Michael

Water is our worst enemy, and it is everywhere so we need to minimize it whenever possible. Water will rob the catalyst (KOH) and use it to make soap leaving the reaction short. According to my recipe you were about 10 pounds of KOH short. I use 8 as a base plus titration.

Your oil is high titration, you need to investigate acid esterification to reduce the titration to a more manageable level. The methanol amount and process temp is right on. Methanol vaporizes at about 146.5 degrees, so 145 is a bit high.

To check your oil for water do the hot pan test. Heat a pan and add oil by the drop. If the oil sizzles and crackles it has moisture. You can also add a couple tablespoons of oil to a pan and heat it up. Watch for bubbles that will indicate moisture, if it just spreads out and remains bubble free, it is dry.

I believe this batch can be saved. You will get a lot of glycerine because of the high titration, look for maybe 75 to 80% conversion. If you get that titration down to 2 or 3 you will get close to 100% conversion.

Norman

That was my next procedure to do the hot pan test. Should the stove be set to medium teperature? And what do you mean by 75-80% conversion? And what is the procedure to reprocess this batch? Thank you so much for your help.

Michael