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Biodiesel problem resolved | 20 comments (20 topical, editorial)
Re: Biodiesel problem resolved (3.00 / 0) (#5)
by troy on Tue May 24th, 2005 at 05:56:46 PM MST
(User Info)

Glad to hear you're back in business!  Yes, Tilly's a dear.

I prefer zero water.  There are various approaches to get you to zero.  I won't fuss too much if the water content is 2% or less, but it does lower your yield and make washing more problematic.

  1. You can heat your oil to around 240F.  Messy, smelly and possibly dangerous.  As the water turns into steam, it can launch boiling oil right at you.  I don't know how it knows where you are, but trust me on that. Plus it sucks up wads of energy.  Cooking to this temperature would be my last choice.
  2. Gravity seperator.  If you let your raw oil settle for a few months, especially if the containers can sit in the sun and bask, this will often do most of the work for you.  Just leave the grotty water and crunchy bits on the bottom.  This method is not totally reliable and should never be used without testing for water content prior to reaction.
  3.  Circulation drying, my method of choice. Combines nicely with #2. This consists of pumping or recirculating the oil through a nozzle or perforated pipe (rather like a showerhead but with bigger holes) into a drum to produce lots of surface area to allow the water to evaporate.  It helps if the air is dry and the oil is warm.  I heat mine a bit to 120F to help the water evaporate. This always works, but the wetter the oil, the longer it takes.  And of course, I still test to make sure.
Good luck and have fun!

troy



Re: Biodiesel problem resolved (3.00 / 0) (#6)
by TomW on Tue May 24th, 2005 at 07:21:02 PM MST
(User Info)

Troy;

Have you tried pulling a vacum on the oil as you circulation dry it?

I don't know about biod but I understand a vacum will pull water out a bit faster than ambient pressure. Just a thought.

Cheers.

TomW

"Education consists mainly of what we have unlearned."--Mark Twain
[ Parent ]



Re: Biodiesel problem resolved (3.00 / 0) (#7)
by troy on Wed May 25th, 2005 at 09:28:02 AM MST
(User Info)

There has been an ongoing discussion about the merits of vacuum or vac-assist drying of WVO (andd also methanol extraction from the waste product).  They do the same thing with orange juice to make concentrate without spending too much on heat.

It's not a free lunch though.  It takes energy to make a vacuum, or partial vacuum.  That may be less energy than just heating, but perhaps a close race with circulation drying with modest heat input.  Nobody, so far as I know, has done a carefully documented fair comparison that really compares the numerical data.

Practically, it's a lot easier for me to pump through a pipe with holes to get cheap evaporation, than to produce a pressure vessel that can stand vacuum, plus the vac pump, and a condensor.  There's also the problem of of all the contaminants (crunchy bits, etc.) in the used oil.  Even with care, it's tricky to keep all the oil vapors and junk out of your vac pump and condensor in the long run.  

Some use converted water heaters that would prob. work for vac extraction.  I'm waiting for someone else to come up with the cheap, durable, slick efficient vac distillation rig before I jump in.

Finest regards,

Troy  

[ Parent ]



Biodiesel problem resolved | 20 comments (20 topical, 0 editorial)

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