Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant
Alum is not the same as aluminum John D. Greg and April wrote: IIRC, aluminum soaps will thicken fuels, and that was a early way to make napalm. I'm not saying that alum would do this, but, it should be something to keep in mind, as, soap is a byproduct of biofuel production. You would not want a tank full of a flammable sticky gel that does not flow. Greg H. - Original Message - From: Doug Turner [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 8:06 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant Hi Wes: Thanks for the information. I was wondering if you have determined if adding alum has any impact on processing the WVO into BD. My weak, old, and somewhat suspect knowledge of chemistry tells me that alum will dramatically alter the pH of unbuffered solutions and that some metals (not sure about aluminium) will hasten oxidization rates in vegetable oils, shortening their shelf-life. I don't know enough to figure out for myself if there would be an impact on processing. Any ideas? TIA Doug Turner - Original Message - From: Wes Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 7:38 AM Subject: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant After a few months of experimenting with Alum (1 liter test batches) I have concluded that Alum is effective to congeal water and most of the black sludge in used cooking oil. By adding about 1 teaspoon of alum to a liter of dirty oil, stirring and leaving to settle for a day or two, there is an obvious clarity to the oil and a layer of sediment at the bottom of the container. To make this process even more attractive, by adding more oil after pouring the clarified oil off the top, the alum seems to be able to clarify the next couple of batches without adding more alum. Adding powdered bentonite seems to help, although I have not tried to separate the effects of each. I would be interested to hear the experiences of others. Wes ___ 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/ ___ 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/
Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant
There is quite likely Aluminum in Alum, depending on type. Alum Aluminum Sulfate Al2(SO4) Note the AL2(SO4) in 3 of the 4 types of Alum below ( not a complete list ): Potash alum, K2SO4·Al2(SO4)3·24H2O Sodium alum, Na2SO4·Al2(SO4)3·24H2O Chrome alum, K2SO4·Cr2(SO4)3·24H2O Ammonia alum, NH4Al(SO4)2·12H2O Alum, in chemistry, is a term given to the crystallized double sulfates of the typical formula M+2SO4·M3+2(SO4)3·24H2O, where M+ is the sign of an alkali metal (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, or cesium), and M3+ denotes one of the trivalent metals (typically ALUMINIUM, chromium, or iron (III)). The ammonium ion (NH4+) also occurs in the M+ position. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum Like I said, IIRC, aluminum soaps will thicken fuels, and that was a early way to make napalm. I'm not saying that alum would do this, but, it should be something to keep in mind, as, soap is a byproduct of biofuel production. Greg H. - Original Message - From: John Donahue [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 21:11 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant Alum is not the same as aluminum John D. ___ 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/
Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant
IIRC, aluminum soaps will thicken fuels, and that was a early way to make napalm. I'm not saying that alum would do this, but, it should be something to keep in mind, as, soap is a byproduct of biofuel production. You would not want a tank full of a flammable sticky gel that does not flow. Greg H. - Original Message - From: Doug Turner [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 8:06 Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant Hi Wes: Thanks for the information. I was wondering if you have determined if adding alum has any impact on processing the WVO into BD. My weak, old, and somewhat suspect knowledge of chemistry tells me that alum will dramatically alter the pH of unbuffered solutions and that some metals (not sure about aluminium) will hasten oxidization rates in vegetable oils, shortening their shelf-life. I don't know enough to figure out for myself if there would be an impact on processing. Any ideas? TIA Doug Turner - Original Message - From: Wes Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 7:38 AM Subject: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant After a few months of experimenting with Alum (1 liter test batches) I have concluded that Alum is effective to congeal water and most of the black sludge in used cooking oil. By adding about 1 teaspoon of alum to a liter of dirty oil, stirring and leaving to settle for a day or two, there is an obvious clarity to the oil and a layer of sediment at the bottom of the container. To make this process even more attractive, by adding more oil after pouring the clarified oil off the top, the alum seems to be able to clarify the next couple of batches without adding more alum. Adding powdered bentonite seems to help, although I have not tried to separate the effects of each. I would be interested to hear the experiences of others. Wes ___ 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/ ___ 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] Alum as coagulant
After a few months of experimenting with Alum (1 liter test batches) I have concluded that Alum is effective to congeal water and most of the black sludge in used cooking oil. By adding about 1 teaspoon of alum to a liter of dirty oil, stirring and leaving to settle for a day or two, there is an obvious clarity to the oil and a layer of sediment at the bottom of the container. To make this process even more attractive, by adding more oil after pouring the clarified oil off the top, the alum seems to be able to clarify the next couple of batches without adding more alum. Adding powdered bentonite seems to help, although I have not tried to separate the effects of each. I would be interested to hear the experiences of others. Wes ___ 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/
Re: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant
Hi Wes: Thanks for the information. I was wondering if you have determined if adding alum has any impact on processing the WVO into BD. My weak, old, and somewhat suspect knowledge of chemistry tells me that alum will dramatically alter the pH of unbuffered solutions and that some metals (not sure about aluminium) will hasten oxidization rates in vegetable oils, shortening their shelf-life. I don't know enough to figure out for myself if there would be an impact on processing. Any ideas? TIA Doug Turner - Original Message - From: Wes Moore [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 7:38 AM Subject: [Biofuel] Alum as coagulant After a few months of experimenting with Alum (1 liter test batches) I have concluded that Alum is effective to congeal water and most of the black sludge in used cooking oil. By adding about 1 teaspoon of alum to a liter of dirty oil, stirring and leaving to settle for a day or two, there is an obvious clarity to the oil and a layer of sediment at the bottom of the container. To make this process even more attractive, by adding more oil after pouring the clarified oil off the top, the alum seems to be able to clarify the next couple of batches without adding more alum. Adding powdered bentonite seems to help, although I have not tried to separate the effects of each. I would be interested to hear the experiences of others. Wes ___ 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/
