Foolproof Room Temperature (FRT) Biodiesel

[Johnnojack Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnojack]

Re: Foolproof Room Temperature (FRT) Biodiesel

REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CATALYST! Blimey that's radical. Sorry Mark I couldn't resist that little dig. Glad to hear it though. Maybe you could even try titrating your oil. I look forward to your results.

[tillyfromparadise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close tillyfromparadise]

Re: Foolproof Room Temperature (FRT) Biodiesel

Hi Mark

Method update:

Also, as I've become aware that this method uses about twice as much (apparently) catalyst as the Dr Pepper method, I'm going to attempt to optimise it.

But you only recently increased the KOH from 15g to 20g. Maybe you need to further increase the amount of KOH you are using- say to 25g or 30g KOH per litre of oil.

If I can reduce the level of catalyst, that will cut a few cents off the cost and reduce the amount of solid waste generated. Stay tuned

Do you mean you finally realize that the HUGE glycerol layer you are producing because of the massive amount of KOH you use in the reaction is a big waste.
PS you forgot to tell everyone about your degrees in chemistry

[WesleyB Donating Member Find all posts View Profile Close WesleyB]

Re: Foolproof Room Temperature (FRT) Biodiesel

Dr Mark Are you still drying your methoxide solution prior to the transesterification reaction? Maybe drying with cement? Le Chatlier's principle would indicate one advantage to that in the increase in methoxide concentration in solution but making soaps bonded to a metal with a valence of 2 is not good. Calcium soap, magnesium soap would be difficult to remove from biodiesel product. In the case of drying with calcium oxide , calcium hydroxide would be soluble in methanol/ methoxide solution to a degree and would make calcium soaps , combining with free fatty acids present in used vegetable oil.