[Biofuel] theoretical and practical questions
Hello All, I am a beginner with biodiesel and i did a lot of reading the last few months and i did quite some test batches with unused sunflower oil with the single stage method (as is advised). Now i have some practical questions and theoretical questions. Practical questions: When you are finished with making the BD (ready to put in the car) and you take a small sample of this and shake it with an equal amount of water in a glass jar the water and BD separate, should the BD layer be completey clean and clear after few minutes? How can you test if your final product is good enough to put in you car? I also have some questions about washing my test batches. As i am a chemist and work in a laboratory all my test batches were made in laboratory conditions. After separating the glycerol layer from the BD layer, i washed the BD 3 times with water. Then i filtered the BD over a coffee filter and the BD looked really nice (clean, clear). But when i shake this BD with water again, the BD layer looks not clear again, and it looks like there is still soap in it. How do you know when you are finished washing the BD and should i filter it after every wash? Theoretical problems As i live in Holland and it can get very could in winter, i am also interested in the 2 stage method because BD made with the 2 stage method works better in colder conditions. But what is the chemical difference between BD made with the single stage and BD with the second stage? In my laboratory we also analyze fatty acids and we also make FAME to analyze with GC. The difference with making BD and FAME to analyze with GC is that we also add Borotrifluoride-methanol complex as a catalyst for...? Nobody at my jobs does know why and i asked 2 PhD in organic chemistry but they also dont know. So does anyone know why this catalyst is added and what it does exactly. Would it help us to when processing our BD? Hopefully someone can help me. Greetings, Marc I ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Biodiesel turning acid
Hello, I made a testbatch with clean sunfloweroil and first quality test was good. I washed the solution with water and let it settle for a week. i did this 3 times and then i filtered the biodiesel. Yhe biodiesel looked crystal clear. I tested the pH and it was 2.5! What happend here? How is it possible that a very basic solution washed with water is getting acid? Did anyone experienced this before? Greetings, Marc ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Re: Biodiesel turning acid
The pH was tested with a digital pH tester. I also measured the pH of the last washing-water and that was about 7 so i think that the biodiesel is ok now. Thanks for all the repleys, Marc How did you measured the pH? Citando Marc Arends <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: Hello, I made a testbatch with clean sunfloweroil and first quality test was good. I washed the solution with water and let it settle for a week. i did this 3 times and then i filtered the biodiesel. Yhe biodiesel looked crystal clear. I tested the pH and it was 2.5! What happend here? How is it possible that a very basic solution washed with water is getting acid? Did anyone experienced this before? Greetings, Marc ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] biodiesel from linoleic acid
Hello, For the last 2 weeks i have been trying to make biodiesel from WVO with 60% linoleic acid. I did many many test batches but never i had a good quality test as discribed here http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_vehicle.html#quality It never separates within 30 minutes but after a couple of day it looks more or less ok but never like in the picure as you can see in the above link. I was woundering if the test is possible with linoleic acid as it has 2 double bound in its structure and therefore making it more polar and water will "attach" better to this acid giving it a bad qualitiy test as aresult. Has anyone got experience with this kind of WVO? Mine has a FFA concentration of 0.3%. Greetings, Marc ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] Iodine value, polymerisation and oxidation
Hello, My WVO consist of 80% polyunsaturated oil and i calculated that this has an iodine value of 150. But when i look at the table "National standards for biodiesel", found here http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield2.html#biodstds you see the iodine value of BD should be on avarage less then 120. Which makes my BD not suitable for my car cause the BD will undergo polymerisation. You also read on the webpage that oil with a iodine number above 50 will damage your car. Found here http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_yield.html. On the other hand i red this article stating that "Trans-esterifying triglyceride oils and fats with monohydric alcohols to form biodiesel largely eliminates the tendency of the oils and fats to undergo polymerisation and auto-oxidation and also reduces the viscosity of the oil to about the same as petroleum diesel". Found here http://www.shortcircuit.com.au/warfa/paper/paper.htm My idea was to mix my "high polyunsaturated BD" with mineral diesel until it does no demage to my car, but i now i don't know how much of each i should use. Can anyone help me please, i am very confused. Greetings, Marc ___ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
Re: [Biofuel] Isopropyl Alcohol
You can also use a 50:50 v/v mixture of ethanol and diethylether. We use this at my work every day and it is ok. Marc Arends original message: Hi I seem to be having trouble sourcing Isopropyl Alcohol for titration, I've tried pharmacist in my area (kent UK) but none seem to have it. Can anything else be used or does anyone know a likely supplier. Paul ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
[Biofuel] NaOH
Hello all, I have a questions before i want to start with making my first test batch with the single stage method. I bought NaOH from a hardware store, but it looks white so it is not pure. Does somebody know how i can mesure the moisture content of this NaOH so i can compensate for all this water? (I can use an oven at my work that can reach 1000 degrees Celsius). Greetings, Marc ___ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
