Bio-diesel

I have an oil cooled Deutz Generator engine, this gave me idea to use it to heat oil up to point were water could be boiled out. Is that what you are using exhaust cooler for?

 

No, I just heat it up a bit to maybe 100°F or so. After that it goes through that big tube on the right hand side of the tank and there's a series of baffles arranged vertically in there that separate out the water. If I could get it hotter I would but diesel exhaust isn't really all that hot. Or at least mines not once I've let it expand into a four inch tube. Headers reduce heat through expansion. So they actually seem to run a tad cooler. By the time you get to the 4" heat exchanger I'm not sure I could manage to get much more than 100°F out of it.

Heating the oil till it boils off any water might work but you also want to remove stuff like antifreeze which isn't going to boil off so easily.

 

Made a few micro-batchs of bio-diesel today. First one reacted about half way, next next one over reacted, last one reacted just perfect, although the fuel is kinda dark, which is apparently a function of what color the oil was in the first place and makes no difference at all in the finish quality of the product.

I'll give it a few days and then start washing it. After that its a few tests and a few more try's to make sure I got the correct amount of reactant. then I'm back on the road.

truck still needs paint but all the mechanicals done except a few switches for the pump on the tank.

cheers
B

 

Boston
Good to see your getting there with it. The way your doing it is the best way, with a heap of small batches, once you get to know the oil you collect you can make an educated guess that will be nearly on the mark every time.
Don't worry about it being dark it will change color after washing, if it is really used oil, it will turn to a dark amber if not so used will became a straw color.
One last thing if you can use potassium for your methoxide over sodium, it is way more forgiving and does a more thorough job.
Good Luck

 

Hmmmm, I've got about 2.5 kg of lye and about 10 gallons of methanol. I was thinking of using ethanol next time. Just to see what the difference is when using the two. So whats this about potassium, Is that the KOH I keep hearing about, rumor has it, its more expensive ? and takes a bit more to react. I'm using NAOH at 96% purity. But am always open to suggestion.

My last chemistry class was about 30 years ago ;-)

Not sure how long to let the stuff sit and react but I'm thinking in a few days I'll start the wash process. My take on that was to use cold bio diesel and slightly warm water. About 50/50 with just a touch of agitation for maybe 10 minutes, then let sit another few days.

I'm kinda thinking that I'll toss the two that didn't react well and once I get a better micro scale do another few titration's, then just kinda keep going till I nail three in a row. Once I'm convinced I can get the proper reaction I'll try the barrel I took my samples out of. Its about 20 gallons or so, is slightly contaminated with motor oil and is the oldst least filtered oil I have. I know I was supposed to start with new oil but I've got so much oil it just seemed right to dive on in.

I still need a cone bottom tank and a tank heater but other than that I'm pretty much ready to rock and roll.

 

Boston
PM sent to you.

 

Going to wash some fuel tonight. I got some out of each of the three batches. The stuff that reacted best seems to be pretty dark though. The stuff that only half reacted is about the same. The stuff that went off like a volcano is mostly jello, but I did get some clear looking fuel, not much, but some. I'll keep them separate and test the end results after I wash and dry it.