Upon looking at the reaction of NaOH and methanol I realized that one
equivalent of water is a yield of the reaction. Will this interfere with the
tranesterification reaction? I thought that I read water wil cause
saponification.
Thanks,
Bobby Clark
If you looked at the messages I reffed in my previous response
(below) you'd see it just decreases yield slightly.
It's part of the reaction. It's important to keep any extra water out
of the reaction, so you use pure catalyst and pure alcohol and
dewater the oil if necessary.
Besty wishes
Keith
Hello Bobby
Does anyone have a printable MSDS for Sodium methoxide solution in methanol?
I am having my first go at biodiesel this weekend and want to be as safe as
possible.
Thanks,
Bobby
I don't think you'll find one. You'll find MSDS for methoxide powder
and for sodium methylate, which are both sodium methoxide but not the
same as you'll be making.
See:
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg33399.html
Re: [biofuel] Methoxide Powder
http://sustainablelists.org/pipermail/biofuel_sustainablelists.org/200
5-August/thread.html#2803
The Biofuel August 2005 Archive by thread
Biofuel] Sodium Methoxide MSDS (Sodium methylate)
Anyway I don't see how an MSDS would be much help to you. This might
be more helpful, from a previous message debunking someone talking
nonsense about methanol:
Methanol is also a very active chemical against which the human
body has no means of defence. It is absorbed easily through the skin
and there is no means of elimination from the body, so levels of
methanol dissolved in the blood accumulate.
Total crap. Try this:
Methanol occurs naturally in humans, animals and plants. It is a
natural constituent in blood, urine, saliva and expired air. A mean
urinary methanol level of 0.73 mg/litre (range 0.3-2.61 mg/litre) in
unexposed individuals and a range of 0.06 to 0.32 µg/litre in
expired air have been reported...
The two most important sources of background body burdens for
methanol and formate are diet and metabolic processes. Methanol is
available in the diet principally from fresh fruits and vegetables,
fruit juices (average 140 mg/litre, range 12 to 640 mg/litre),
fermented beverages (up to 1.5 g/litre) and diet foods (principally
soft drinks). The artificial sweetener aspartame is widely used and,
on hydrolysis, 10% (by weight) of the molecule is converted to free
methanol, which is available for absorption...
Elimination of methanol from the blood via the urine and exhaled
air and by metabolism appears to be slow in all species, especially
when compared to ethanol. Clearance proceeds with reported
half-times of 24 h or more with doses greater than 1 g/kg and
half-times of 2.5-3 h for doses less than 0.1 g/kg...
The minimum lethal dose of methanol in the absence of medical
treatment is between 0.3 and 1 g/kg.
Also:
Many national occupational health exposure limits suggest that
workers are protected from any adverse effects if exposures do not
exceed a time-weighted average of 260 mg/m3 (200 ppm) methanol for
any 8-h day and for a 40-h working week.
From: United Nations Environment Programme / International Labour
Organisation / World Health Organization: International Programme On
Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria 196 - Methanol
http://www.inchem.org/documents/ehc/ehc/ehc196.htm
Other authorities concur.
You can see why I find it difficult to get the the end of it. We've
hardly begun, but would you buy a used car from this man?
Caustic soda is also not a very nice chemical and can cause
irritation and serious burns.
Indeed it can, but it's nonetheless a common household item sold in
supermarkets and hardware stores, as is methanol, which is quite
often to be found on dining tables being used as a fuel for fondues
and Korean barbecues and so on.
And being used as fuel in boys' model aeroplane engines.
Not to underplay the hazards of methanol, but there are people who
overplay it for their own reasons.
See: Safety
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html#safe
Best wishes, good luck, let us know how you get on
Keith
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