Dear paul,
the methoxide prep stage is my greatest concern It sounds like you have a good solution(no pun intended lolol) with the aqueous solution. please confirm your statement. can you say with impunity that you have had no problems with this? what is the shelf life of the aqueous solution? you mention solidifying at temps below 20 c... if kept above that temp does it remain in solution? the safety of our personell and students is of paramount importance. also what respirators can anyone reccommend for this task.any other safety issues that need to be adressed besides ventillation and protective clothing? we will eventually be making up to 2000 gallons per batch in our reactor vessell so we want the best possible advice before we get to that point and ive found that bench scale testing doesnt generally hold true when scaling up to production levels.. any suggestions will be appreciated.. marc --- In biofuel@yahoogroups.com, "gobie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Kevin, > have to agree with you that the preparation of the methoxide can be a > dangerous step. > There are some good methods mentioned on JTF, but most of them take time. > To get around the NaOH dissolving in methanol problem I have developed a > method of using NaOH in the form of a concentrated aqueous solution. The > NaOH dissolves readily into the water and is available as a stock solution > when needed. To make methoxide the Conc Aqueous NaOH is measured out and > poured slowly with stirring into the methanol. Result a crystal clear > methoxide prepared in a minute or two. > Dissolve 100g of NaOH (flakes, pellets or pearls) in 90ml of distilled > water. Some stirring will be needed and the solution will get very hot. Mix > in a heatproof non metalic container and avoid breathing the fumes. This > will give you 1200ml of solution. Store in an airtight plastic bottle at > ground level away from children. > When making up the methoxide multiply the grams of NaOH/litre required by > 1.2. > If the ambient temperature is below 20 deg C the conc NaOH solution will > tend to solidify and may need to be shaken or warmed. > > One of the "golden rules" of biodiesel making is to avoid water at all > costs. In this case however the small ammount of water in the Conc NaOH > solution does not seem to have a detrimental effect. > > The above advise is offered as asistance, not to prove a point or promote a > particular way of making methoxide. Try it and if you like it great I have > been of help. > > There are sure to be a few comments from the detractors of this method. > I'm flying out this evening, not back till Monday, so will not be available > for comment till then. > > > Regards Paul Gobert > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: Kevin Shea > > To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com > > Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to agitate the Lye powder > into the methanol? I use a type 20 Lightning mixer (with small propeller > agitator), but have problems with the dissolving of Sodium Hydroxide > > > > I mix 3.75 liters of methanol to the appropriate amount of sodium > hydroxide in a 5 gallon carboy (with small hole drilled in cap) and let mix > for 15 minutes. My problem is that the sodium hydroxide fails to dissolve > completely with the methanol. I can see lots of clumped Lye! > > > > I hate this part of the process!!! and it is the most dangerous!! I > take as much precaution as possible not to expose myself and wear proper > safety protection. I'm not crazy about mixing for longer period with an > electric mixer or have something happen to cause a catastrophic event, so > I'm trying to minimize this danger window of this process > > > > Most likely I'll mix the next batch of Sodium Methoxide in a smaller > carboy (HDPE), and that should hopefully help. Maybe the propeller shaft > should be a larger design?? Anyway, I'm interested in the most efficient > (Safe) methods and how long agitation should be? > > > > I use the Red Devil powder Lye. > > > > > > Thank you, > > Kevin Shea > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > > > Biofuels list archives: > > http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > > > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > > ADVERTISEMENT > > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------ -------- > ---- > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > a.. To visit your group on the web, go to: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ > > > > b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! 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