Re: [Biofuel] New member - NIR biodiesel testing

[Aaron Lawrence]

Thanks for the speedy response. Keith Addison wrote: Hello Aaron Hello everyone, I just recently joined the mailing list after finishing the processing of my first test batch. I used the 1L test batch method listed on JTF using ~85% KOH, Dri-Gas, and new VO from the supermarket. I stir washed it until the wash water and biodiesel appeared crystal clear. I dried the biodiesel by heating it to 130degrees F and then letting it cool. The final product looks good from what I have compared it to on JTF. I plan to do a few test batches with the new VO and then a few test batches using WVO. Before I do another test batch I wanted to quantify my results by testing it. I'm a senior computer/electrical engineering attending the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth. I'm no chemist by any means but I know a couple people in the Chem department and I'm pretty sure they have an NIR machine. I was wondering how skilled a person would need to be in NIR testing to be able to test the biodiesel and tell me how it matches up against the US ASTM spec and the German DIN spec. Would I be better off sending a sample to an experienced lab? If anyone has experience sending samples out, are there any labs you'd recommend? How costly is the testing? Well, there's no need to go to all that trouble, NIR is overkill. You don't say if you checked your first batch with the prescribed quality control tests. This is the sixth step in making your first test batch: 6. Quality Proceed to the wash-test to check the quality. If your biodiesel doesn't pass the test, here's what to do next. wash-test http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_vehicle.html#quality here's what to do next http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_vehicle.html#whatdo Please see these Gas Chromatograph test results: http://snipurl.com/pie8 [Biofuel] Biodiesel test results 11 Apr 2006 "So this is what you can achieve by using the quality tests at the Journey to Forever website Biodiesel section to guide your processing... it's further confirmation that the backyard brewers' cheapo kitchen-sink quality tests will indeed guide you to a high-quality product, and that the one-step-at-a-time learning path is the way to go." Sorry, I did omit the wash-test step in my email but rest assured, I didn't omit it in the process.  The first attempt at the wash test yielded lots of emulsion.  I had bought my KOH from a soap supplier and they had specified 99% pure NaOH but no specification on the KOH.  I assumed it was left out by accident and used 4.9g of KOH.  After I got lots of emulsion on the wash test I sent out an email to the company and found out that the KOH was ~85%.  I reprocessed with 4.9g KOH and 100mL methanol (a slight modification from the recommendation on JTF if the wash test didn't go well).  After the second processing the product seemed to pass the wash test without a problem and a lot more glycerol was collected on the bottom layer. I have read that biodiesel, even if it passes the US ASTM spec, may cause injector coking over time ( http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/EthylWVO.pdf ).  I know a lot of people around me who are skeptical about the cleanliness of biodiesel since diesels in the US have earned the reputation of being "dirty".  I want to have some credible consistent numbers behind my fuel.  I would like to know that it meets the German DIN spec since this is the spec Volkswagen cites in their warranties for new vehicles. I can see that GC testing at a commercial lab is quite out of my range.  NIR is supposed to be a lot easier and quicker from what I've read and heard.  My sister is a Biology graduate from my university and had to use the NIR machine once or twice in her Organic Chem lab.  They had a graduate student actually operating the machine.  Apparently it only takes a couple minutes to actually run the test itself and then it's just dealing with the graphs.  Also, one of my friends is a senior in Chem and works in a lab doing HPLC which I may be able to get access to. It seems I have two testing methods that I may be able to use: NIR and HPLC.  Is GC better suited than these two in testing biodiesel? I have found these two articles on JTF dealing with NIR testing with biodiesel: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/NIR1.html http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/NIR2.html Thanks -Aaron

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