Re: [Biofuel] Water in my Methanol

[Raymond Burns]

Roger,

You could try adding a drying agent to the drum to absorb the water (depends
on how much leaked in though).  I remember in chem lab in school in order to
dry our solvent system when we were doing synthesis adding Sodium Sulfate
which absorbed the water, but didn't dissolve in the organic solvent to an
appreciable extent.  Then you could just filter it out into another drum, or
draw the methanol from the top of the drum (the drying agent should sink to
the bottom).

If you can't find sodium sulfate you could get Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom
Salt) or Calcium Sulfate (gypsum) and use those, although there water
absorbing abilities will be slightly different (you'll have to add more or
less that is).

If you do this, make sure you agitate the tank for a little while so that
the water gets absorbed (other wise the drying agent will just sink to the
bottom, and won't get everything that's already in the methanol, since MeOH
and Water are miscible).

Let me know if that helps or works.

-- 
Raymond G. Burns III
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Re: [Biofuel] Water in my Methanol

[Kurt Schasker]

Make sure there is actually water in the methanol.
 
For ethanol dehydrating, there are two ways to go.  I don't know if this works 
with methanol.  Take lime (CaO) and make sure it is dry and coarse (unslaked).  
Fill a 55 gallon drum two thirds with this stuff.  Add the wet alcohol, and let 
it sit overnight, but keep at room temperature.  The lime will selectively 
adsorb the water, leaving the alcohol behind.  You will need to vaporize the 
remaining methanol and distill it because the lime will flake into very tiny 
particles, which you don't want in your fuel.  However, you can probably get 
methanol to evaporate with just solar energy pretty easily, paint a drum black 
and collect the fumes.
 
The other way is to use cracked corn, or any cellulosic material.  With 
cellulosic adsorption, it only works if you all the vapors to travel through 
the corn, unlike lime which works in the liquid state.
 
Kurt
 
 Date: Fri, 2 May 2008 13:32:55 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: 
 biofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: [Biofuel] Water in my Methanol  Any 
 suggestions? It looks like water got in my new 55-gal drum of  Methanol. I 
 keep it outside for obvious reasons but it looks like water  got in somehow. 
 The only thought I had was to set up a distiller to  heat up the mixture to 
 160°F and then cool the vapor into another vessel  much like the 
 methanol-recovery system. This would be on a small scale  thought. Just 
 thought I would ask.   ___ 
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