G'day; Well, I have come across another part of the learning curve. My processor/wash tank combo resides in a non-winterized pump house and the last two times I have processed a batch of BD (80liters each) I had a problem with saponification/emulsion and I believe I have it figured out. As a side note, this probably would not have happend with KOH, but I am using NaOH at the moment. The temps here have gone down at night quite a bit of late and this is the time that the settling is being done. The last two times I had to heat the plumbing at the exit point of the reator in order to get the glycerine to flow, at the same time turning on the reactor's heat for about 30-45 minutes, as the glycerine had hardened in the plumbing as well as inside the reactor. Once the glycerine begins flowing it does so very well, HOWEVER it does not all come out as there is still some that gets "melted" while the hot BD is being transfered to the wash tank as witnessed by a sharp darkening of the colour in the sight tube as it comes out. I immediately stop the pump and drain the remainder out the glycerine drain at the bottom, but not before some of it has blended with the BD being transfered and this results in a layer of creamed chicken soup that won't break. The fuel is good, as the shake test proves, athough there is glycerine being mixed with the BD, not good. Solution? Re-heat the lot and pump mix again when hot and let setlle a few hours and drain, let settle some more and drain again until the volume approaches what would normally come out the glycerine drain when the weather is warm. Alternative solution? Send the lot, immediately after initial processing, into a seperate settling tank that has been set up using the standpipe design (metal tank with bungs downward), let settle and then drain out the BD FIRST via the standpipe and pumped to the wash tank, and then flip on the welded immersion heater that has been inserted near the "floor" of the secondary settling tank thereby heating the glycerine layer and making it flow easier. A visual over the edge will tell if the whole glycerine layer got drained or not and this way NO glycerine is getting in the BD. Better system yet? Use potassium hydroxide and don't worry about theabove time-consuming PITA (Pain In The Anatomy). As still somewhat of a beginner at this BD making stuff I have a whack of NaOH that I got from a chem supply house that now has to be used, although once I have thorougly "pefected" using my system and understanding it's ups and downs to where I ma comfortable with it's nuances I will be looking into KOH as a catalyst. That will be for the next season, as this one winds down due to cold and I don't have the with all to properly insulate the pump house, although I will be using the off-season to do that as well as set up the secondary settling tank in preparation for a full and rewarding production season next year. The off-season time will also be used to stock up on things like, methanol and WVO (it's pretty good stuff I get from the Chinese Restaurant and I want to get ahead of it for next year), and insulating the pump house which will allow me to get going earlier than if I only wait for it to be warm enough in the Spring. Ordering some WintronXC30 is also on the list for early Spring use and also for next winters' BD experience. It is too bad too as the Benz REALLY likes running on B100, and it iwll do so once weather and the ability to process permits. Who knows, maybe it will be sooner rather than later, but one thing certain, I will be working at it.
Luc _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://wwia.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/biofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel archives at Infoarchive.net (searchable): http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
