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Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

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  • Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

    Hey guys,

    A while ago I asked about a confusing soap problem with my biodiesel, and thanks to the awesome knowledge of everyone here, I managed to start making some top quality bio diesel!!! Took me a while due to university stuff but finally got there

    Anyway, now I want to build a small scale reactor, but I have no clue how to accurately measure out the bigger quantities of liquid needed. For my 1 Litre batches, I just bought measuring cylinders from a local lab supply shop. For my reactor, I will be starting off with a small 20L reactor, so I'll need something like 20L of oil and 4L of methanol. I can't think of anything to give me an accurate measurement for these quantities. I thought of potentially weighing the reactants, but that would get quite messy as you need to consider temperature, impurities, etc. How do you guys measure your liquids?

    I'm also having difficult finding carboys or any such appropriate container for the initial filtration/settling of my WVO. Does anyone know where I can buy these? I'm based in Melbourne.

    Thanks for all your help, I should have a complete reactor by the end of the month!!

  • #2
    Re: Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

    Hi Arvin,
    Originally posted by Arvin View Post

    Anyway, now I want to build a small scale reactor, but I have no clue how to accurately measure out the bigger quantities of liquid needed... For my reactor, I will be starting off with a small 20L reactor, so I'll need something like 20L of oil and 4L of methanol...
    When I was making 20 litre batches of biodiesel I used a 2 litre plastic container with measurements marked on the side.
    Fill it up 10 times to the 2 litre mark and you have 20 litres of oil.
    I still measure out my methanol that way.


    tillyfromparadise
    Senior Member
    Last edited by tillyfromparadise; 4 June 2019, 09:17 PM.

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    • #3
      Re: Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

      All you need is a set of bathroom scales. Place the larger vessel on the scales. If you want 20 litres, add 20 kg of water. Mark the level. Tip it out and refill with oil.

      Tip: if you want 20L of bio, you will need a container that will hold 24L plus expansion and freeboard.

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      • #4
        Re: Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

        Vegetable oil expands when it is heated. I had a hot vegetable oil bath overflow due to expansion of the hot oil. I don't know how to calculate that mathmatically. It might be measured empirically by just doing it , then measuring the change in volume at temperature.

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        • #5
          Re: Practicalities of measuring liquids on a larger scale

          Originally posted by WesleyB View Post
          Vegetable oil expands when it is heated.
          hence my statement "Tip: if you want 20L of bio, you will need a container that will hold 24L plus expansion and freeboard."

          expansion is not the bigger concern. in order to mix it thoroughly enough, you need a lot higher sides than to account for just the expansion if you dont want a wet slippery floor.

          my 300 litre hot water tank is just perfect for a 200L batch.

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