Hi Mike > I'm struggling with the washing of the biodiesel. I get a low return (50%) > and a lot of creamy mayonnaise. Do you get rid of the water before the reaction? Perhaps you use too much lye. How much do you use? Yield should be ~ 100% even by an inexperienced biofueler. I usually get 105% after reaction and 103% after washing - I have a flat bottom reactor, which doesn't quite help hold yield high.
> During the processing I get a good glycerin drop (15%) using Foolproof on > used veggie oil. Everything looks good until the wash when I add the > vinegar and water to the biodiesel start the bubbling and watch the mayo > form. Obviously there is too much lye in the biodiesel. The mayo is easily mendable: keep adding strong (pickling) vinegar or a 10% citric acid solution, until you see separation - while mixing slowly or bubbling gently. This may kep yield low (95%), but it'll save most of your bio. > There is very little water in the processing and my understanding is that > any excess methanol or lye will wash out. Could the temperature of my > washing water or composition ( tap or faucet water from municipality) be the > cause? Nuh. While the process is tricky, it's not that tricky! Biodiesel is best washed with small water portions (25%) at lest three times 10 hours, allowing settling times of 2 hrs before draining. At least the first washing water should be acid (purchase a set of pH paper to get an idea), settling after the final washing stage should be 3 days minimum - up to 2 weeks. This eliminates the hassle of reheating and saves a lot of energy. Petrodiesel fuel has to settle for 3 weeks after it arives at a fuel depot, so waiting one week is quite little when compared. Cheers, Aleks ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Small business owners... Tell us what you think! http://us.click.yahoo.com/vO1FAB/txzCAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
