Re: [Biofuel] Start Up Problems

[Ian & Theresa Sims]

G'day Peter Sounds like water in there somewhere. Check you oil for water. Methanol is a hygroscopic substance and if the tins been left open in humid conditions it to may have water in it? See the JtF site for more info on water in oil. I have seen items on the list about hydrogenated oil ? being difficult to process, you may want to check this out as well. Hope that helps Ian from NZ ----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Currie To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 11:01 AM Subject: [Biofuel] Start Up Problems G'day group it is with great embarrassment that l have my first post. For 3 months l have been doing test batches (lost Count how many) and still cannot past shake test. Methanol - From a drag racers 44 gallon drum - best apparently Lye - Tiny pearls 99+ - fresh - then flake Oil - supermarket virgin oil Deep cooker filled with water with thermo (bottling type to 120 deg. C ) Drill stand above 2Lt glass jar tall with narrow neck with screw top lid with hole for paint stirrer Have tried lots of combinations re mixing time (1hr to 2.5 hr) Mixing speed - slow to fast amounts of lye - 2.7g to 4.2g per lt amounts of methanol 200ml to 250ml per lt types of oil - canola , blended edible all say 100% unused After process the product separates nicely and after waiting 12-24 hours do shake test with rain water (all l have) usually it takes hours to separate with a thick layer in-between of white fluffy cloud like stuff (.5 inch thick) The pearl variety of lye dissolves quickly but is hazy whereas the flake is crystal clear. Am heating oil to 55 c then adding methoxide then stirring maint temp throughout. Have read and reread JTF site and archives but nothing leaps out as obvious, my process seems correct, my materials seem correct but l'm starting to feel Very stupid. Is there something on this side of the planet that l'm not aware of?. Also would be very keen to talk - SEE setup working in Melbourne Aust. I'm in the Dandenongs. Any advice would be appreciated, thankyou Regards Peter from Oz _______________________________________________ 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/ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/129 - Release Date: 11/10/2005

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