Hello Marc. The method that you are referring to, mixing BD with water in equal proportions seems to me a dubious method of determining the state of the BD. If the BD contains small amounts of detergents (common in used cooking oil) the phases will separate very slowly or not at all. Furthermore, the BD is slightly polar, which means that it will attract some water during all conditions. And - small amounts of di- and monoglycerides will also slow the separation process. This goes concerning any remaining soaps as well. A good visual hint to ready biodiesel is when the last washing water is clear and bright. This does not mean that the BD is, for the reasons mentioned above. The question about GC catalyst I cannot answer, sorry. With best regards Jan Warnqvist AGERATEC AB
[EMAIL PROTECTED] + 46 554 201 89 +46 70 499 38 45 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Marc Arends" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 12:32 AM Subject: [Biofuel] theoretical and practical questions > 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 don't 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
