Hello All,
I am a beginner with biodiesel and i did a lot of reading the last few
months and i did quite some test batches with unused sunflower oil with the
single stage method (as is advised).
Now i have some practical questions and theoretical questions.
Practical questions:
When you are finished with making the BD (ready to put in the car) and you
take a small sample of this and shake it with an equal amount of water in a
glass jar the water and BD separate, should the BD layer be completey clean
and clear after few minutes? How can you test if your final product is good
enough to put in you car?
I also have some questions about washing my test batches.
As i am a chemist and work in a laboratory all my test batches were made in
laboratory conditions.
After separating the glycerol layer from the BD layer, i washed the BD 3
times with water. Then i filtered the BD over a coffee filter and the BD
looked really nice (clean, clear). But when i shake this BD with water
again, the BD layer looks not clear again, and it looks like there is still
soap in it. How do you know when you are finished washing the BD and should
i filter it after every wash?
Theoretical problems
As i live in Holland and it can get very could in winter, i am also
interested in the 2 stage method because BD made with the 2 stage method
works better in colder conditions. But what is the chemical difference
between BD made with the single stage and BD with the second stage?
In my laboratory we also analyze fatty acids and we also make FAME to
analyze with GC. The difference with making BD and FAME to analyze with GC
is that we also add Borotrifluoride-methanol complex as a catalyst for...?
Nobody at my jobs does know why and i asked 2 PhD in organic chemistry but
they also dont know. So does anyone know why this catalyst is added and
what it does exactly. Would it help us to when processing our BD?
Hopefully someone can help me.
Greetings,
Marc
I
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