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Baking soda and salt into WVO???

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  • Baking soda and salt into WVO???

    Hi,
    Anyone had experience with 'clarifying' WVO with baking soda and salt? Found the following but am undecided as yet. Any chemists out there that can illuminate me as to what is really going on?

    Thanks, Michael

    Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems

    And pinched from infopop;

    "I've been playing around with baking soda and WVO off and on over the past year, mainly using BS in water solution as a brine wash

    was hoping BS would:
    - neutralize acids and sugars;
    - facillitate and speed settling of emulsion;
    - encourage microdroplets of water to settle out (dewater)

    [I have not tried adding dry BS to WVO - my instinct is that that would just add more crap to WVO and clog filters faster]

    brine wash DOES seem to:

    - speed settling (definitely);
    - clarify oil (certainly looks lighter and clearer);
    - remove sugars and acids (I end up with a distinct white line of material below oil and above water - I'm guessing this is a combination of BS, fats, sugars, etc, although I haven't tasted it yet);

    but it does NOT seem to effectively dewater

    I get more water in every sample than in the raw WVO
    ALTHOUGH
    I haven't had time to try brine wash of *filtered* WVO w/ *heat* settling
    (this is my last best hope)

    in general I get better results with filtered WVO (over raw) and with heat settling (over ambient)

    note:
    BS brine emulsion of RAW WVO, *heat* settled, DOES prefilter well
    water ends up quite dark with much particulate
    (must have heat to achieve this)

    if you want to save on filters and are careful to dewater, this might be a good prefiltering option w/ added benefit of neutralization

    my hope is to come up with an economical way to turn WVO back into near-virgin oil (unprocessed WVO seems to have a relatively short shelf life - my guess is that acids, sugars, etc encourage breakdown and rancidity)

    rOLf

    2 yrs and 50k mi on WVO - '93 VW EuroVan 2-tank w/ tank heat/HOH/10-micron heated Fleetguard, FPHE"

  • #2
    Re: Baking soda and salt into WVO???

    Ok, from what I can gather the salt attracts the water (hygroscopic) and increases it's specific gravity. This means the water settles to the bottom of the container faster where it can be drained off. The oil will not "stick" to the salt and be a problem provided you draw from above the salt/water line.

    But I really need a closet chemist to explain to me why/how the baking soda (alkaline) is speeding up the settling process and allowing the fats to 'drop out'.

    Help, Michael

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    • #3
      Re: Baking soda and salt into WVO???

      All I do is collect all the leftover, ugly oil/fat etc and when I have enough for a batch of around 60L, I heat it to 80C or so for 8 -12hrs. I put about 2 generous cups of BS and a cup of salt. Bring temp down slowly and sit for few days. I decant with a drum pump progressively lowered.

      The tank is an old water heater with 2pot foam insulation. I added a thermostat. It's open topped to ease filling. Has a coarse gauze in the top to trap larger particles. I run a good few batches before I even think about cleaning it out. It can be viewed on my blog.

      Vege van....Toyota Hiace

      You will see there's a polycarbonate window in which the fat level can be seen. I have not been able to update this blog because the host wants me to "jump thru hoops" with new email accounts and all manner of things.

      Another way I discovered to separate fat from oil is to get an old bedsheet. Tie its' 4 corners with ropes and suspend so it resembles a broad hammock. Put a tray underneath and dump the ugly fat into the "hammock". The hammock will form a "point" to which oil will drip from. Over several days a substantial amount of oil can be extracted. The residual fat will become drier and drier as oil is drained.

      Give it a whirl!!

      Tbird... Soy-ota Hiace

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Baking soda and salt into WVO???

        W123,
        I use the byproduct from biodiesel production to dewater my veggie oil. It also causes much of the high melting point oil to drop out before filtering.
        I take a litre or 2 of the byproduct in a bucket, pour in 15 litres of oil and stir. Allow to settle for 24 hours and pour off the very clean looking oil. I have used the byproduct for over 30 litres with a similar effect, buit it gets hard to stir after a whille so I dump it in my "fire brick" production bin and use fresh byproduct.
        I am not measuring the water content either before or after, so my only measurement of effectiveness is the clarity of the oil before and after the settling.

        Regards,
        Tony
        Life is a journey, with problems to solve, lessons to learn, but most of all, experiences to enjoy.

        Current Vehicles in stable:
        '06 Musso Sports 4X4 Manual Crew Cab tray back.
        '04 Rexton 4X4 Automatic SUV
        '2014 Toyota Prius (on ULP) - Wife's car

        Previous Vehicles:
        '90 Mazda Capella. (2000 - 2003) My first Fatmobile. Converted to fun on veggie oil with a 2 tank setup.
        '80 Mercedes 300D. 2 tank conversion [Sold]
        '84 Mercedes 300D. 1 tank, no conversion. Replaced engine with rebuilt OM617A turbodiesel engine. Finally had good power. Engine donor for W123 coupe. (body parted out and carcass sold for scrap.)
        '85 Mercedes Benz W123 300CD Turbodiesel
        '99 Mercedes W202 C250 Turbodiesel (my darling Wife's car)[sold]
        '98 Mercedes W202 C250 Turbodiesel (my car)[sold]
        '06 Musso Sports Crew Cab well body. [Head gasket blew!]
        '04 Rexton SUV 2.9L Turbodiesel same as Musso - Our Family car.
        '06 Musso sports Crew Cab Trayback - My hack (no air cond, no heater).

        Searching the Biofuels Forum using Google
        Adding images and/or documents to your posts

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Baking soda and salt into WVO???

          Tbird, very sexy window in the tank - gotta get me one Your process is very simple and I'll try a batch in glass jars and see.
          I've tried a variation on the bedsheet idea but it was out doors, on a farm (in drought) and too much dust got into the collecting vessel. Also it worked best when the sun came out and melted the fats allowing them to pass though so I stopped it.

          Tony, thanks for the input. I'll get some BD by-product from a friend and give it a go.

          No closet chemists out there?

          Cheers, Michael

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Baking soda and salt into WVO???

            Michael

            That window is polycarbonate and the stainless fitting is of a type used in the dairy industry amongst others. It's a 2 piece affair with a rubber seal. I picked one up recently from a scrap merchant for about $8. The rubber seal I scrounged elsewhere. The seal is of a special section to suit but I see no reason why a fat o-ring of the right diameter wouldn't be equally effective. If memory serves, I believe it's called an RJ coupling or similar.

            Tbird

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