Hello Kevin, > I had a chance to try your "fast " wash method today (35 gal white poly > drum) with a simple 55 gal drum mixer and wanted to thank you for the time > you just gave back to me!
Glad you like the results. If you want to be 100% on the green side with such a fast-paced wash regimen, you'll want to install a wash water aggregation tank, where all your waste water is accumulated. Let it set 24-48 hours and you'll see that some microscopic biodiesel coalesces and resurfaces. Eventually there will be a thick enough layer to recover easily. If you really want to improve your energy recovery, you can pump the majority of the water off the bottom of the ag tank into a wash water treatment tank, where it can be treated with magnesium sulfate (epsom salt) or aluminum sulfate. The soluble potassium or sodium soaps get converted to non-soluble magnesium or aluminum soaps and float to the surface as grease, leaving water that is teinted with either potassium or sodium sulfate, rather than soaps that can accumulate topically in a yard if released in a grey water irrigation scheme. The grease can be recovered and used as a solid fuel or a lubricant. And if you really want to get efficient, producing more fuel and less soaps and using fewer lower volumes of chemicals, the next jump would be going into acid/base once you've got straight base processing down pat. I guess there's always room for improvement..... Todd Swearingen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Shea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 5:20 PM Subject: Re: [biofuel] Questions Speed-up washing biodiesel > Todd, > I had a chance to try your "fast " wash method today (35 gal white poly > drum) with a simple 55 gal drum mixer and wanted to thank you for the time > you just gave back to me! > > Success! > > At least for me, this procedure is much better & faster to wash Biodiesel > this way, compared to the bubble-wash method. Just 5 minutes of "appearin g > homogenous": and allowing the 1 hour settling,...removed a heavy layer of > settled soap murky water (looked like melted marshmallows). Drained-off & > replaced the water and repeated for a total of 3 wash cycles. The murkiness > of the water & biodiesel layers are currently clear and is settling for 24 > hours. Excellent separation, no emulsion! > > -Kevin Shea > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Appal Energy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> > Sent: Sunday, May 02, 2004 9:13 AM > Subject: Re: [biofuel] Questions Speed-up washing biodiesel > > > > Kevin, > > > > Yes. You can speed up the process considerably. It involves the following: > > . > > 1) Throw out your mist washer. > > 2) Box up your bubble washer. > > 3) Make absolutely sure that you never try to wash an incomplete reaction > by > > testing washing a 1 ounce sample in a sealed jar. > > 4) Use a motor driven impeller to mix the water/fuel mixture to the point > of > > appearing homogenous for ~5 minutes. > > 5) Let settle 1 hour. > > 6) Syphon off the top layer of fuel and repeat steps 5, 6 & 7 two more > > cycles. > > 7) Let the fuel air dry or heat to 120*F to dry. > > 8) Combine all your wash waters and the 1"-2" of fuel that was left on top > > after each syphoning in a collection tank. > > 9) Let settle 24 hours. > > 10) Remove lower water layer to a wastewater treatment tank to recover the > > soaps. > > 11) Return the accumulated fuel from the wash water residue to your first > > wash of your next batch. > > > > Depending upon the volume of oil in your batch, the hp/size of your > reactor > > tank and wash tank motors/impellers, you could get your entire batch > process > > time down to 24 hours. > > > > Most people avoid mechanical mixing of the fuel at the wash stages, > thinking > > that it will create emulsion problems. And they're right if they try to > wash > > "fuel" from incomplete reactions. > > > > That's the primary reason why they were "invented" and have achieved such > > wide acceptance - too many people aren't meticulous about making sure that > > their reactions are complete. > > > > Todd Swearingen > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Kevin Shea" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <biofuel@yahoogroups.com> > > Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 10:43 PM > > Subject: [biofuel] Questions Speed-up washing biodiesel > > > > > > > Hello, > > > > > > Is there a way to speed-up the water-biodiesel wash during the "settling > > of washing the fuel? I've read the bubble washing techniques & understand > > it, but for the best quality of biodiesel, it can take up-to-a-week, with > > several washes. One person mentioned a centrifuge, which I never used & > know > > nothing about that equipment. I imagine it to be a very expensive > machine, > > takes up a large amount of space, and may not be available to the average > > homebrewer. > > > > > > Could vibration assist in aiding water to help filter water to "shake" > > past the biodiesel to the bottom water level in a shorter amount of time? > > > > > > Has anyone tried to experiment using vibration? Also, -In order to > > understand the process better, does anyone have a mpeg simulation > > illustrating the (Molecular model) cleansing of biodiesel in the wash > stage > > process or something similar? > > > > > > I am curious to see the what exactly is happening in the batch? While > I'm > > at it, how about a simulation of the transesterification process in a > mpeg? > > > > > > Anyone? > > > > > > > > > Thank you, > > > Kevin Shea > > > > > > 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 > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/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! 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