Christian,
A lot of people have had difficulty ascribing the haze problem to
a root cause. We do know that too much caustic can cause an
electro-chemical response where microscopic water wants to
adhere to esters. As I am told by our chemist...a reasonably
reliable and rather sharp chap...the excess catalyst transfers
its charge in some manner, even though it is washed out, giving
cause for the water adhesion.
The best reslolve...? As little catalyst as possible.
We also know that too much catalyst can cause soap formation,
even in a 2 stage acid/base where the FFAs are esterified prior
to the addition of base.
As soap is an emulsifier, its rather difficult to get it all
washed out at the microscopic level
Compounding those two factors together probably contributes
considerably to haze.
Throw in miniscule incompleteness of reactions, where feint
traces of mono- and di-glycerides exist, and the situation is
ripe for a multiple compound fracture.
Suggestions? No different than before...try to lightly heat out
the haze and also run a small batch of the haze free fuel through
the process again to see if any more glycerin drops. If no
glycerin drops, you should feel safe in placing the balance of
the heated fuel into a tank.
I would do so when I was sure that the entire volume was going to
be consumed semi-quickly. Or, if you're concerned, throw it in
with an equal measure of ...ack...!%#!...petrodiesel.
The next suggestion is that on your next batches, always make
sure to draw your fuel off the top, stearing clear form getting
anywhere near the interface layer of fuel/water. You'll lose a
quart at each rinse, but these can be consolidated in a separate
drum and recovered later.
This would probably mean elevating your production to larger
quantitities somewhat to accomodate for the temporary loss at
each wash stage.
Just don't get perturbed. The fuel is good stuff...you'll just
have a little more around as a result of having to compensate for
working in small quantities.
Not to worry. Even the big boys do the same thing. Just that
doing it in micro-liters is durned impossible.
Todd Swearingen
- Original Message -
From: Christian
To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2002 1:08 PM
Subject: Re: (Todd Paul) [biofuel] murky
Thanks to you both for the tips. I still haven«t tried filtering.
Heating
to, say, 60¼C, makes the BD clear... even leaving it in full
sunshine has
the same effect, but at 20¼C the BD goes back cloudy. (This is
regarding
Todd«s 120¼F -49¼C- suggestion)
I«ll try Paul«s suggestion first, just because it«s simpler.
Anyway, I don«t
quite understand how filtering removes cloudiness that comes from
liquid
particles (either water or glycerides). My reaction times were, I
admit it,
perhaps too short. I mixed four independent 1 liter batches, and
they were
each left to react for about 30 to 40 minutes. The reaction
seemed
complete after 10 minutes or so, and I thought 30-40 min would
do.
Washing stage 1 left some emulsion problems, but decanting over
night
allowed me to drain the water together with a small
emulsified+soap layer in
between. I used a 6lt pyrex with an opening at the bottom, so I
always
drained the water from below, rather than syphoning the BD form
atop.
Todd: how do I calculate the proportion of lye if I were to
follow your
suggestion? Will an excess simply wash out in the washing stage?
Or might it
react to form the so feared gel?
My third washing left the water almost clear, and instead of an
emulsion, I
sort of got the washing bottle full of bubbles... but not soap
bubbles. They
were rather BD bubbles (5mm in diameter) in the water, and water
bubbles
(same size) in the BD portion, and they all dissappeared quickly
after
turning off the aereator.
Thanks... I«ll keep in touch.
Best to you all,
Christian
- Original Message -
From: Paul Gobert [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2002 6:13 PM
Subject: Re: [biofuel] murky
- Original Message -
From: Christian [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: biofuel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2002 1:28 PM
Subject: [biofuel] murky
Does filtering remove the cloudiness?
Usually works wonders, needs to be fairly fine filter medium
though. For
example a disposable plastic inline fuel filter will pass
cloudy BD. A 11
micron filter paper (Whatman No. 1) produces crystal clear BD
from the
same
murky BD.
Regards,
Paul Gobert.
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