Hello all. As promised, I am writing to let you know how my first test batch is going. Before I get started, let me say that I have not ignored the fact that several folks have warned me to start with the one step process before going on to the Foolproof method. As I have said in the past, I have a strong background in chemistry, and am not intimidated by this aspect of biodiesel production. I do have concerns about my ability to build a processor once I have the process down, but am learning from the resources available and think that this can be done.
That being said, it has been a very good day. Last night, I filtered a liter of the used canola oil that I have been hoarding for the past month or so. This morning, I went to the store and bought a stainless steel saucepan, which I set on top of an electric griddle that I have had for years. I was planning to buy a small hot plate at the store as well, but they were out. What they had were electric griddles, and I though of the fact that I had one of those that I never use which would be great for the purpose. I heated the oil to 95 degrees F and added 80 cc methanol. After mixing for 5 minutes, I added 1 cc H2SO4 using a syringe, then continued stirring and heating. The oil darkened instantly on adding the acid, and stayed dark through the remainder of the mixing. It did get somewhat hot at one point, to almost 120 degrees, when I turned the thermostat up to combat the temperature falling to about 90. There seems to be a lag between making changes in the thermostat on the griddle and it actually cooling, and the oil was already up that high before it dawned on me that I could just take the pan off the griddle and allow both the oil and griddle a little time to cool. Anyway, after stirring for an hour with a paint stirring attachment on my cordless drill, I took the pan off the heat and continued stirring for another hour. I ended up with a mixture that appeared a great deal like used motor oil, which is what it seems I should have from the description on the JTF web site. It has been sitting for about two hours so far, and is separating. I will let it settle overnight tonight, then proceed to the base step in the morning. I'll come back tomorrow to let you all know how that went. For now, though, this has been fun. I'd like to once again thank all of those here who have helped me get this far. I am hoping that soon I will be driving on pure B100 home brew. Brian ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 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 Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
