Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are two potential causes for bad emulsions on wash testing, right? Incomplete Reaction and Excessive Caustic, right?
Well, operating under those assumptions, I've been working back through and pulling different angles and variables to test. I'm using utterly virgin corn oil of a quality brand. I am using very dry, non-deliquesced sodium hydroxide, flake. I've been using a GE glass jar blender, and HEET brand methanol.
Going through after one bad batch, I tore apart the blender... and found a ring of sodium hydroxide at the bottom, in between the jar side and the mixer pillar. Not good, this means it didn't mix into the methanol. Since I've been using the recommended 3.5g/L NaOH for my virgin oil, I'm thinking this must be the culprit: an incomplete reaction caused by the underpresence of sodium hydroxide in my supposed solution of methoxide.
So I went back to my original method of mixing up methoxide, measuring it out into a mason jar and agitating it by hand for a good fifteen minutes (Really wears the elbows out, shaking a glass jar of liquid around rapidly) then letting it sit all overnight.
Well, there isn't anything settled on the bottom, but I can see visible little specks suspended in the liquid. The solution is cloudy, and has almost an oil lense ripple effect(distortion in waves/globs?) if you shine a light through it without shaking it or only lightly shaking it.
Is this solution adequately mixed? Having only worked with NaOH with water solutions previously, I'm not sure how this is supposed to look. Do I need to do something to make it dissolve better?
Thanks for the help,
-Kurt
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