Ken, I'm really sorry for not getting to this before I dealt with other stuff.
Here be the coupe de grace.... An acid/base requires no titration.... Want to here some more good news.....? Start working acid/base reactions and you can probably reduce your base catalyst by half or three quarters, thereby reducing your wash "problems" and increasing your yield. I just posted a general response to one of Keith's questions, under the subject line of "Phosphoric." That had some pertinent thought process throughout. What I can say unequivocally is that an acid/base reaction, conducted carefully and "properly," will probably increase your yield by ~4%. I certainly wouldn't sneeze at that, as it also reduces your capital inputs and reduces the cost of your effluent management programs. As for taking accumulated recovered FFAs and conducting an acid esterification that only results in 70% conversion....I'd say that you are about 10 giant steps in front of most other persons at the "home biodieseler's" level. Okay...so you have to reprocess 30% of your original 100% FFAs. Are you not already 70% ahead of the game? If you've gone in this direction, I doubt that there is much holding you back. Your next mission, should you choose to accept it, (Mission Impossible tele series for those who don't know it) is to pull off a 100% complete esterification reaction....... Just one problem there.........esterification reactions happen best under high temp and pressue. My best guess under such circumstances is that you would be better off switching to an acid/base method and not accumulating recovered FFAs in such high quantities in the first place. I just don't know exactly what the conversion of FFAs is in an "STP" acid stage. I have no doubt that it is not entirely complete. For now, it is considerably better than nothing. In time, we should have a barnyard and solid answer to this question. Hopefully in short time. In the meantime, however, I have to ask........If what you are trying to convert to esters are 100% FFAs....do you really see any need to go into a base stage? Ain't been there...Ain't done that....But fixin' to.....Just seems like a logical question as the glycerin is already cracked and non-present. Todd Swearingen ----- Original Message ----- From: Ken Provost To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 9:25 PM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Results on Revised 2 Stage Acid/Base Method Todd Swearingen wrote: >We've been doing some testing on acid/base reactions lately.... Great data, I hung on every word!...... The only thing I'd've liked woulda been some titrations along the way. My big question is the obvious one --what does all the acid step really DO for us? Hopefully, it reduces the FFA level of the original oil from some gawdawful level, say, 20%, down to 2% before you go into the base-catalyzed stage, so you can use really dirty oil (or, in my case, clean oil with lots of FFA intentionally added, having been recovered as such from the accumulated glycerine phases of weeks of normal reactions). Unfortunately, my own titrations on that score seem to indicate I'm only getting about 70% esterification in the acid step, which still leaves a lot of soap in the base step. Did you notice a reduction in the amount of soap from typical to the 2-stage process? Did you do any pH checks of your wash water along the way? I'll be doing some very similar experiments this weekend, using a combination of clean oil and extracted FFA -- will keep y'all informed. -K 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 the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Stock for $4 and no minimums. FREE Money 2002. http://us.click.yahoo.com/k6cvND/n97DAA/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/
