Hi Dan >Keith Addison said: > > > > http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor5.html > > > > 5-gallon processor - Cheap, simple, safe and effective > >Nice! I think a 5 gal. / 20 l. "test" batch is probably easier to make >than a 1 l. or 1.5 l. test batch, the smaller the test batch, the more >precise your measurements must be. For example: > >1 liter oil requires 0.2 liters of Methanol and .35 grams NaOH > >20 liters of oil requires 4 liters of Methanol and 7 grams NaOH > >If you accidently measure out an extra .1 gram NaOH in each batch it >represents it represents 28.5% too much in the 1 liter batch but only 1.4% >too much in the 20 liter batch.
That's wrong Dan. This is virgin oil, so it should be: 1 liter oil requires 0.2 liters of Methanol and 3.5 grams NaOH 20 liters of oil requires 4 liters of Methanol and 70 grams NaOH A .1 gram NaOH error is only 2.8% out in the 1 litre batch, and that won't make much of a difference with virgin oil. With very high-titration WVO it might though. Not significant with the 20 litre batch. Anyway, never mind, the principle's right even if you lost a decimal place. Hey, my turn! (Thanks again for your help!) By the way, 20 liters of oil and 4 liters of Methanol is 24 litres. A 20-litre processor would make 15-litre batches: 15 litres of oil, 3 litres of methanol and 2 litres of headroom. >This may seem obvious, and I suppose it realy is, but it seems worth >stating. I hadn't realy thought about it untill I mad a couple of 1.4 >liter test batches a few weeks back. One turned out great, the other is >quite interesting to watch settle, but it isn't biodiesel. It's worth stating. Mark's right though, eh? - it doesn't lend itself to armchair theorising. Why we always advise people to start at the beginning instead of rushing straight at the two-stage processes or designing a full-scale processor before they've made their first batch. One erstwhile hopeful complained most bitterly to me because he'd spent a load of money on lots of chemicals and processor gear and so on and his first attempt ended up with 50 gallons of glop from a failed acid-base process that he just didn't know enough to control properly. He knew better, wanted to take a short-cut and avoid titration. No problem that the process avoids titration, but the homebrewer who avoids it isn't likely to have enough skill or knowledge to do two-stage processes properly. You need to get a feel for it all, get experienced, work out your own methods for ensuring accuracy and predictable results - get good at it. As with most things. So yes indeed, small batches need more precision. Conversely (or something), for example, a small error in titration becomes quite a big error when there's 50 gallons of it. So it's worthwhile learning how to handle small batches and small quantities accurately. Anyway, small test batches are useful. You should be able to measure 0.1 gram and 0.1 millilitre reliably. Another newbie argued with me because JtF doesn't give equivalents for measuring the lye with a teaspoon. But you can't do accurate measurements with a spoon - after all, lye comes in flakes, pearls and half-pearls, how can you hope to get it right with a spoon? So, no spoon. Anyway you'll get the cost of a 0.1 gram-accurate scale back on your first batch or two, why be so stingy? But he insisted on spoons. He's welcome. Welcome to the glop soap too, I guess. Or maybe not, but why not do it well? Surely it's worth it? It's not too difficult. Dan, what quite is happening to the test batch you made that isn't biodiesel? Why not try rescuing it? Best Keith >Cheers >Dan >-- >Jack of all trades, master of none. >Fiber Artist - Genealogist - Kilt Maker - Linux Geek - Piper - Woodworker >http://www.xmission.com/~redbeard Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/index.php?list=biofuel Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
