before testing my fuel was settled for 7 days until it was crystal clear
and light yellow in color. after 24-48 hours it seemed to settle
completely but it was still hazy, this went away entirely after the full
7 days. there was no appreciable increase in the volume of the glyc
layer after the initial settling period.
ambient temp is 55 degrees. all samples were prepared with normal city
water from my tap (I don't think it is hard but there is certainly stuff
in it from treatment, like chlorine for example).
glassware used in measuring the samples is accurate to .24mL at 150mL
(per labeling etched in the glassware). all measurements are read from
the bottom of the meniscus.
samples were added to a small ball jar (about 450mL volume) and then
shaken for 10 seconds fairly violently.
at 70 degrees F 150mL sample separated in 4m 10s, it was a celan
seperation with absolutly no emulsion. there was some haze in the
biodiesel like it looks when I start to wash, it goes sort of milky
yellow with lots of tiny little bubbles, this will become crystal clear
and even lighter yellow than it began if allowed to settle for a while
(usually a day or two).
at 40 degrees F 150mL sample separated in 12m 4s, there was gunk in
emulsion in the FAME on top that never settled out, after about seven
minutes it had separated into 60/40 (the 60 being BD) with lots of
emulsion in the biodiesel layer, this emulsion never really broke but it
reached about 55/45 by the 12m 4s point at which point it was as
complete as it got within the 40m before I disposed of it. I don't think
that I would say this "passed" because of the junk in the top layer and
also because it never really came back to 50/50.
some questions remain:
this test clearly tests for three things: soap, monoglycerides, and
diglycerides. how can we test for triglycerides (really incomplete
reaction)?
if we look at the results and say "this didn't pass" we should have some
path for figuring out why. what methods can be used to tell the
difference between excess soap and unreacted mono and di glycerides?
do we learn anything from the separation time itself on a "passing"
batch? is 4m fuel better than 10m fuel?
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