Hi Christian
Nice to hear from you, I was wondering how you were getting on. Well,
it seems, good for you.
Dear Keith,
Remember my odd titration results?
Indeed yes.
Well, now I measured the lye on a precision scale (measures up to
hundredths of a gram)
I'm envious!
and made a solution of 1.06 g NaOH/lt (It was the closest I could
get, given the size of the solid NaOH pips). Close enough.
Certainly close enough.
I titrated again, and (oops, forgot heating the WVO), titrated to
around 1,3 ml.
I figured the first results were low because Phenolphthalein in
unheated WVO/isoprop takes some time to react with all the prsent
FFA, so vigorous mixing is needed, as well as -time-.
What temp did you heat it to? I usually just warm it all up a bit, to
maybe 30 deg C, seems fine, but I haven't seen much advice on this.
That's interesting about phenolphthalein, I did some comparative
tests with phenolphthalein, pH test paper and two digital pH meters,
and the phenolphthalein came off worst, maybe I should give it
another try as you suggest.
My results are still low for used oil (ranging from 1,22 ml to 1,5
ml), but now they seem closer to reality.
That sounds okay, not unusual.
I«ll be trying out a liter batch in a couple of days, and I«ll try
4g; 4,2g; 4,6g; 4,8g and 5g of NaOH to find the best results (these
values correspond with titration results varying from 0,5 ml NaOH to
1,5 ml NaOH). Wish me luck.
Good luck indeed! The basic 3.5g for virgin oil that you add the
titration results to is also not too precise, it can be as low as
3.1. I'm planning some tests to see what works best within that range
of 3.1-3.5 when you apply it to high-FFA oils, but I guess we'll
always have to put up with a variable there. Maybe I'll find out
something useful though. And if you do, please let us know. Again,
the 8-9pH figure for titration is a bit broad, I use 8.5, and I'm
told that's a good figure, but I haven't seen much to support it. I
think with virgin oils or low-FFA oils these imprecisions are not
much of a problem, but they get more critical with higher proportions
of FFA.
I«ve only one doubt, which is the container to use for Methoxide for
my 1 lt batch. ÀHow hot can the Methoxide get (200ml MeOH + 4,8g
NaOH)?
Not very hot, that's not a lot of NaOH. Not hot enough to break
Pyrex, I'm sure. Have a look at the alternative way of mixing
methoxide in Aleks's updated Foolproof method, takes a bit longer,
but you might prefer it:
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_aleksnew.html
Foolproof biodiesel process
ÀIs a 2 lt pyrex beaker OK (yes, it«s glass, but I«ll be working in
a lab under good supervision)? ÀOnce in the WVO, is the mix safer
to handle, or should I treat it as methoxide for the first minutes?
I treat it with grave suspicion for the first few minutes, though
it's certainly at least five times safer than the pure methoxide.
But I'm no bible, Christian, that's for sure - I wish someone else
here would give you some advice too.
Best wishes
Keith
Regards,
Christian
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