Charles,
I think that if you drop back to 80 L you are still making a goodly bit
of fuel. You still may have to tweak the process ... increase time and or
temp. Get it right there and then go up in 5 or 10L increments, testing each
batch, and again, tweaking, if necessary.
I went from small test batches and slowly increased volume up to 20 -
25 L batches. I then jumped up to 130L batches.
When I discovered that the biodiesel wasn't as good as I thought, I
dropped back to 76L (20 gal)batches. After increasing processing time and
then increasing temp to 140F (60C) , I finally began to consistently make BD
that passed the "methanol solubility test" and did not drop out additional
glycerine when I reprocessed 1L of finished product.
The limitation on my system seems to be about 91L (24 gal) and is
probably the volume limit of my pump, a 1" Clearwater pump.
I still quality test each batch, not just to be sure of the fuel, but
as a maintenance test for the processor and the materials being used. Is my
recovered methanol pure enough? (If I use the first 4 gal I recover, the BD
passes the quality test. When I use the first 6 gallons, little buggers show
up in the methanol sol. test).
Slow and methodical pays off.
Best of luck.
Let me know how it goes,
Tom
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Help needed!
> Hi Tom
>
> Thanks for the reply
>
> I see your point- I scaled up from 40l (with a different processor)
> to 150l and I should have gone slower. I was just so keen to get
> going! My newly built pump and processor will handle 150l- but where
> do you think I should start? Should I scale right back to 50l and
> work up slowly or could I start at around 80l?
>
> Charles
>
> On 16/06/2006, at 12:44 AM, Thomas Kelly wrote:
>
>> Charles,
>> Originally you wrote:
>> "I have just scaled up to a 150l processor ..... "
>> "I have done as suggested on JtF and scaled up slowly, learning as
>> I go.
>> Unfortunately, my first couple of big
>> batches (using creamy canola oil) have not gone so well"
>>
>> At what point did you start having problems?
>> In other words how did you progress? (25L? 50L? etc.)
>> leading up to
>> 150L.
>> I would suggest that you learn and then perform quality tests
>> described
>> at JTF (in addition to the "wash test") as you scale up. Checking
>> to see if
>> the BD is soluble in methanol (JTF: "Quality Testing") is as easy as
>> performing the "wash test". Pass or fail, use the methanol from the
>> test in
>> your next batch.
>> Using quality tests on my BD as I scaled up allowed me to
>> tweak the
>> process (volume of WVO, temp, time).
>> The limit for my processor seems to be about 91L.
>>
>> Following misinformation from another group, I scaled up to 130L
>> batches, only to find out, after learning about quality testing at
>> JTF, that
>> I was NOT making quality fuel.
>> My batches passed the "wash test", but failed upon reprocessing
>> (1L), and
>> also failed the methanol solubility test.
>> This poor quality fuel (incomplete reactions) had been poured
>> into my
>> into my heating oil tank ---> roughly 30% BD : 70% petro. While I
>> was away
>> the burner failed to start. Fuel had "leaked" out onto the floor. The
>> service tech told my wife that the nozzle had some "crap" on it ---->
>> sputtering fuel that dribbled out onto the floor. The electrodes
>> also had
>> some coking.
>> I suspect that poor quality fuel can be burned in a boiler,
>> but may
>> need preheating and pump pressure increased. I had to replace the
>> nozzle
>> twice more as well as clean the electrodes, while adding only
>> quality BD to
>> the tank. After using good BD I had no problems w. a 30% blend, w/o
>> any
>> modifications to the burner.
>> I now use 100% biodiesel to heat my house and to heat water.
>> At about
>> 50 - 60% BD I had some start-up problems, corrected by increasing pump
>> pressure, nozzle change, and decreasing air flow.
>>
>> I've never tried to reprocess a BD-petro blend.
>>
>> Best of luck,
>> Tom
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Charles List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>> To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org>
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:04 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Help needed!
>>
>>
>>> Hi again
>>>
>>> Unfortunately no-one has answered my last post- have I found an
>>> insurmountable problem?!
>>>
>>> Going back a few steps and trying to figure out what's going on, I've
>>> done some more 1l batches on the original WVO I used in my process,
>>> using 9.5g of 90% KOH I got three layers- lovely bio for the top 1/2
>>> (which passed the wash test and burnt fine), then some original oil
>>> unreacted, then some glycerine. Using 10.8g KOH I got very dark "bio"
>>> on top, which passes the wash test but doesn't burn, then glycerine
>>> at the bottom (looks like the right amount), but no oil un-reacted! I
>>> have trawled the archives but I can't seem to find anything that will
>>> help. I realise that I have some incomplete reactions happening but
>>> I am confused by the continually different results.
>>>
>>> Charles
>>>
>>>
>>> On 13/06/2006, at 8:30 AM, Charles List wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all
>>>>
>>>> I have just scaled up to a 150l processor. I am using a 200l drum
>>>> and
>>>> have an old swimming pool pump that pumps at 1l per second- which
>>>> seems pretty speedy! I have done as suggested on JtF and scaled up
>>>> slowly, learning as I go. Unfortunately, my first couple of big
>>>> batches (using creamy canola oil) have not gone so well, I am happy
>>>> with my titrations and measurements but I realise that my
>>>> temperature control has not been too good as the thermostat on my
>>>> old
>>>> spa-pool element heater had too wide a differential and was letting
>>>> the mixture fall to 45degrees C before coming on again.
>>>>
>>>> My problem is this- my first batch came out very dark brown- almost
>>>> black- but it passed the wash test, so, confused, I washed it, dried
>>>> it and it was a very clear, dark brown. As it is now winter down
>>>> here
>>>> in NZ and the snow is falling, and I only had 50l of petro-diesel
>>>> left in my boiler tank, I chucked 50l of my black "biodiesel" in.
>>>> Against my better judgement, but I didn't know what to do! Almost
>>>> immediately my boiler stopped, leaking black fuel on the floor.
>>>> So- I
>>>> drained my tank and tried a 1l batch test on the petro/bio
>>>> mixture to
>>>> see what would happen. I used 150ml methanol and 5.8g 85% KOH as my
>>>> base amount on my test batch. Unfortunately nothing happened, 12
>>>> hours later, no separation, no split, no more glycerine! Has the
>>>> petrodiesel stuffed it up? What can I do?
>>>>
>>>> Charles List
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
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>>>
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