Dear Todd, I'm glad Samai pulled you up on all that circumlocution and persiflage! That'll larn you! You have a huge audience out here in the Real World (which for some reason you all insist on calling the Third World ------ it isn't of course ------- we sadly only have this One World to stuff up). Now I'm pretty sure that you were just trying to say Keep it Simple (KISS?) and I entirely agree with you.
Craig, Todd is correct that there is a possible penalty in going "high tech". Here are a couple of ideas for you to think over: 1) The depth of the interface between the methyl ester and the water is pretty constant because it depends on the rate of molecular diffusion between the two materials. As a consequence, a silo design of separator has a much smaller volume of ester/water emulsion than does a swimming pool design. So your overall inventory of the mixture is greater in a swimming pool which may mean that your overall yield is substantially reduced. It can also be more difficult to find a sharp interface in a vessel with a large aspect ratio (such as a swimming pool). One solution is to accumulate any interface or suspect material in a slops unit where it can be subsequently separated. But the size of the slops unit obviously depends on that inventory. 2) Octyl sebacate, nonyl phthalate and several other esters of fatty acids are used to plasticise PVC and other vinyl products. While methyl stearate and palmitate may not actually attack vinyl, they may very well make them swell and so weaken the vinyl mechanically. You are very wise to carry out tests but you should be aware that it may take years to complete them satisfactorily. So I think Todd is right on the button when he suggests you should design a containment system to cover a split in your vinyl swimming pool. Tom, To return to your original question, both Westfalia and Alfa-Laval make centifuges for separating oils from water. They are available in a variety of sizes as you will see if you have a look at westfalia.com and alfalaval.com (I think they are the right addresses but a quick GoogleSearch will find them). Both companies are also most helpful in testing actual samples of your material and "fine tuning" their equipment to meet your requirements. However you may be somewhat taken aback by the price: The reason is that these things whirl around at several thousand rpm and need exact machining and balancing for them to work safely. Centrifuges are much smaller than swimming pools and have a high throughput. But they have the lowest running costs only when they are running continuously. If you like to post a process flow diagram, I may be able to come up with some further suggestions Best wishes Michael Allen Process Engineer New Zealand 2/12/02 05:30:09, "Craig Pech" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >We are looking into a more "high tech" approach - above ground swimming >pools. They price out at $1300 for a 7500 gallon pool. We have subjected the >vinyl liner to BioD for a few days to see if it degrades - so far it has >stood up well, but we will continue the exposure test. > >Should be good for final separation and settling. > >Craig > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Appal Energy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com> >Sent: Saturday, November 30, 2002 11:32 PM >Subject: Re: [biofuels-biz] speedy separation on a large scale > > >> What you are looking for is generically called a gravitational >> separation pond, more often than not incorporated with the use of >> a chronometrical device to ensure adequate differential >> acquisition of products and co-products. Both of these apparati >> can be dimensionalized to meet your production needs. >> >> :-) >> >> Todd Swearingen >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: Tom Branigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: <biofuels-biz@yahoogroups.com> >> Sent: Friday, November 29, 2002 10:36 AM >> Subject: [biofuels-biz] speedy separation on a large scale >> >> >> > Hello, >> > can anyone give me a rough idea of the types of centrifuges or >> liquid liquid >> > separation equipment that could be used for the separation of >> glycerol from >> > biodiesel, and the separation of water from biodiesel. (as in >> after washing) >> > I have no expertise in this kind of equipment and would >> appreciate greatly >> > any help on the matter. I am aiming at a plant to produce 15000 >> litres of >> > biodiesel per week. >> > >> > Tom >> > >> > >> _________________________________________________________________ >> > Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. >> > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail >> > >> > >> > >> > Biofuels at Journey to Forever >> > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> > Biofuel at WebConX >> > http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm >> > List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: >> > http://archive.nnytech.net/ >> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >> > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > >> > >> > >> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >> > >> > >> > >> >> >> Biofuels at Journey to Forever >> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >> Biofuel at WebConX >> http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm >> List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: >> http://archive.nnytech.net/ >> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> >> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >> >> > > > >Biofuels at Journey to Forever >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html >Biofuel at WebConX >http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm >List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: >http://archive.nnytech.net/ >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
