Hi Keith, I don't know for sure whether it is FFA's or something else ( BD ? ), but the color is black and the BD is goldish, so I think it must be FFA's. > > How do you know it's FFAs? The glycerine layer can continue to "leak" > small amounts of biodiesel for some time after the process. > > >I expected at least half of the lot being FFA's, so I have been looking for > >the separation at about 50% of the volume. I don't find any NaOH at the > >bottom. > >My conclusion is, that the bottomlayer of the BD process is almost 100% > >glycerine. > > I'm afraid I'm left wondering quite what the top layer might be, > considering what follows. > > >I use 3.5 grams of lye and 150 ml methanol in the process and do not > >titrate. > > Not enough lye for WVO and 25ml excess methanol (12.5% stoich for > soy) is unlikely to be enough, especially at such low temps for only > three hours. > > >The mixing takes two or three hours, just to make sure that the whole > >reaction has taken place. > > Hm. > > >Temperature is 15¡ C or a bit more. > > 40 more would be better. > > >The oil I use is WVO ( soya ), which has been used for one or two days > > That doesn't mean much Pieter, it could be lightly used or very > heavily used. Used for how many hours, at what temperature? > The oil has been used for about 20 hours all together at 140¡ C. > >to > >bake fish in. > > So it also has some fish oil in it. > > >After processing, I let it stand for a week or more. > > Before separating the biodiesel from the glycerin layer? Or do you > remove the glycerine layer first? What proportion of the total is the > glycerine layer? Is it usually solid or liquid? What colour? > I don't separate BD and glycerin layer. I just siphon ( is that the right word ? ) the BD from the top of the lot, every time I need some BD, untill I reach the bottom. The glycerin layer is about 15% of the total volume. Not really solid and not liquid. Somewhere inbetween solid and liquid. The color is black. After treating it whith phosphoric acid, the color turns a little bit lighter. The color of the top layer is black. > >I don't wash the BD ( > >not that I recommend this way of working, but in my case it works OK ). > >The pH of the BD is just over 7. > > Have you ever tried washing your biodiesel? I'd be interested to know > what happens. Will you try this? Put 150 ml of your biodiesel in a > half-litre glass jar, add 150 ml of water (preferably distilled water > if you have it, or just tap water if not), screw the lid on tight, > and shake it up and down violently for 10 seconds or more. Tell us > what happens next.
Surprised about what happened : 3 layers. The top layer must be BD ( same color as it always is ), and than a rather thick layer of white flaky stuf, and a layer of troubled water. pH of the BD layer is still just over 7 ( measured with litmus paper ). > > I know some people have difficulty separating the by-product layer, > it's not only you, I've had off-list enquiries too, but I don't > understand what the problem might be. I've tried it with different > types of oil, with good oil and very bad oil, with at least three > different biodiesel processes and two different catalysts, and it > works every time, there's no difficulty at all, I can't get it to > fail. So I can't help thinking something else must be wrong. > > Beste > > Keith > > > >Met vriendelijke groeten, > >Pieter Koole > >Netherlands > > > > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuels list archives: > http://archive.nnytech.net/ > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511 http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
