Re: First time making bio diesel

On Feb 6, 2008 8:31 AM, John Harris <[email protected]> wrote:

> I am a first time maker of bio diesel, and I would appriciate some feed back on my test
> results. I am using a product called Heat for the methanol. on a previous test suing 200ml
> of methanol (Heat) my gliceran was only 125 ml, so I increased the methanol to 325 ml. I
> am thinking that the Heat is not pure methanol, so I compinsated by increasing to have an
> equivelant of 200ml.

Red bottle or yellow bottle? You want the red bottle, I think the
yellow one is IPA.

> I am using KOH, and according to the instructions in "Make your own biodiesel", I
> uncreased the KOH to 5g.

Sounds about right for oil that has no free fatty acids, although you
will have better luck with 8g/L, it is a revised formula that reacts
more completely.

> I used new vegatable oil and heated 1 litre to 130 deg F.

Good temperature, you don't want it over 140F because it will cause
the methanol to start flashing off when you mix it in.

> I then poured the oil into a blinder, and retested the temp, and it was 130 deg F
> I poured in the methanol/KOH mix and mised it for 5o minutes.

5 minutes in a blender is plenty, 50 minutes would be over kill.

You can also do this 1/2 litre at a time in a 32oz plastic water
bottle and shake it to mix.

> I then let it set for 24 hours.

Plenty of time for good seperation, altough 2-3 hours should be plenty.

> In the wash test I had a good seperation of the water withen 30 minuits, but I have a small
> white fome that seperates the water from the oil.
> Is this bad, and if so do you have any idea of what I did wrong.

This is an emulsion of soap, water and oil. You shook it a little too
hard, there are many ways to break emulsions, the easiest is freezing
the mixture in your freezer and letting it thaw out.

> One more thing. I am doing this in my shop in Idaho, and the temp outside was 30 deg F,
> so I put my shop lamp about 2 feet from the mixer to compinsate for the cold.

Not that big of a deal ... we routinely make biodiesel outdoors, 275
gallons at a time in a tank with minimal insulation at 23-26F.

--
Jeff Brandt
Sun Break Biofuels, LLC
http://www.sunbreakbiofuels.com
mailto:[email protected]