(From original thread posted here)

The Western Australian Renewable Fuels Association Inc. has a ex-member who has a commercial property and can accept deliveries of methanol and KOH with no other issues (Zoning Laws, etc). He is prepared to collect orders for Members of WARFA, and combine them to obtain bulk discounts. He is also able to store the methanol on behalf of the members, until required. Some members decant off 20 litres of methanol at a time.
Obviously, he takes no responsibility for these purchases, but he does not charge for, or otherwise gain, from this service.

Contact me for further information.

WARFA have made bulk purchases of:

Pollak valves,
electric fuel pumps (4 psi and 10 psi models) and
coolant/fuel heat exchangers - 10 plate FPHE from Kaori in Taiwan.

These are available to members only, at our cost price (so cheap you would think they dropped off the back of a truck).

Membership applications can be made, indicating your name, address, email and telephone number, and enclosing your cheque for $50 made out to WARFA, and posted to:

WARFA Secretary
7 Nardie Place
HILLMAN WA 6168

Phone me to discuss Concessional membership for the Unwaged (Pensioner / Student)
0428 920 881

Hi Tony,
Can you help in suggesting where I might be able to source some phenolpthalein indicator? I've come from phenol red to Turmeric indicator solution and still seem to be having a problem when I titer my oil. The oil I use generally titers above 5 grams per litre. I use KOH, 7gms as a base and 20% Methanol and still seem to end up with quite a bit of unprocessed oil in my 100 litre brews. I'm also using Methylated Spirts instead of the isopropyl alcohol, could this be a problem? Any help would be appreciated.
Regards Geoff

Hi tony, how are you currently titrating the oil? Anthing above 4-5 for titration is quite high and is better suited to the acid/base method (which is a little beyond the home user). So recheck you titration amounts. Also as a tip when you doing your titration do it to a higher accuracy level, i.e. 4 times the amount of all ingredients. So 4 grams of KOH instead of one, 4 times the amount of distilled water, 4 times the amount of oil and 4 times the amount of metholated spirits (or isopropyl alcohol). After you have done the titration you will need to divide the resultant figure by four. This is a far more accurate method as your error rates are reduced. Most oil I have titrated by this method come in between 6 and 20 mls, which when divided by four equates to 1.5 - 4 grams of reactant (KOH).

A lot of people blow the process at this crucial phase and increasing your accuracy at this point is very critical.

Joe

__________________
Joe Morgan
Brisbane Biodiesel Site Admin
http://www.brisbanebiodiesel.com

Searching tips using Google - SVO Dual tank systems
SVO, Common Rail and Direct Injection - Vehicles converted to Used Cooking Oil

Geoff,

Have you made the titration solution from the KOH you are using for the reaction? A titration solution made from fresh KOH will be useless if the KOH is left unsealed for a couple of weeks, absorbing CO2 from the air and forming carbonate, which does not participate as a catalyst in the biodiesel reaction.
KOH and NaOH both will degrade if left unsealed.

If you have difficulty in measuring the 1g for the 1g/L titration solution, measure 10 grammes and dissolve in 100 mL of distilled water. This makes a 100g/L solution. Take 1mL of this solution and dilute in 99mL of distilled water to make a 1g/L titration solution.

In your titration, are you doing a "blank titration" - titrating the alcohol to ensure that the oil titration is accurate.

Take the Methylated spirits you intend dissolving the oil in, add the indicator and perform a titration until the indicator changes.
When you add theimL of oil, the indicator will change back and you then start the titration afresh, knowing that the alcohol is not adding to the titration for the oil.

These are a couple of things which may be affecting your biodiesel reaction.

Here are a couple of Questions for you:
You say that you "still seem to end up with quite a bit of unprocessed oil " in your 100 litre batches. How do you know that there is unprocessed oil there?
Are you totally dissolving the oil in the methylated spirits? When using methylated spirits to dissolve the oil sample for titration, the methylated spirits should be heated in a water bath (the beaker immersed in a cup of hot water), to enable the oil to dissolve more readily.
What oil is the Source of your oil using? Hydrogenated Palm, Tallow, Canola, cottonseed, sunflower, blended oils etc. There may be a clue in the type of oil you are getting.

At what temperatuere are you processing the oil into biodiesel?

Tony,
Thanks for the quick reply.
My titering solution is made up of KOH as per the instructions on the COLLABORATIVE BIODIESEL TUTORIAL web site.
I also titer as per the article from the same web site "Why We Titrate to Make Biodiesel ".
The KOH at the time of making the solution had been fresh and stored air tight. I'll make some fresh solution and compare titering results, just to make sure.
Yes I'm doing a "blank titration" prior to the titering the oil and allowing the oil to dissolve in a water bath.
After processing a batch of oil and allowing the one hour mixing and then the twenty four hour settling and cooling down period(generally overnight), I'm left with what seems to be semi solidified oil on the walls of my processor. With some re-heating it will liquefy completely. But with cooling it returns to its semi solidified state. If I transfer this brew into my wash tank (after draining off the Glycerine) the Bio takes on a creamy texture and if I try to wash it I get three distinct layers.
Water on the bottom, a white middle layer and a top layer of Bio.
I have reprocessed the white middle layer (un-titered) and got more Bio from the middle white layer using a methodixe mixture of 50ml per liter of methanol with 7grams of KOH.
The type of oil I'm using is generally a blend of WVO from mutiple suppliers and I suppose of questionable quality best describe as a soup at times.
My processing temp is 55c.
Tony, I hope these answers may shed some light on where I may be going wrong.
Regards Geoff

Geoff,
I am sorry, I seem to have missed your reply, despite my using the 'new since last visit" function.

IF you have not found the answers to your problem, please come back and I will see if we can work it our.

Again, appologies for not responding sooner.

Regrds,.
Tony