bio question

[MUDWHISTLE]

well I have made a good batch of fuel and have ran it in my rig but only bout half the tank. it seems to run fin and smokes less a little less bosst. but now heres the problem. i had about a gallon left in the diesel jug and after about two weeks not I check the jug and the stuff in there look like jelly and was not really liquid at all. what happened? first i was like a skin on top of the fluid but now seems to be gel all the way through? whats worse is theres a half a tank of this stuff in my pickup. what do you all think? thanks lee.

 

[bbressler]

Did you wash (if you did -- how did you do it) and filter your fuel before filling up?

I''ve seen that once when I didn't wash (enough).

 

[CHPMustang]

If it turned to a jelly like substance would that be a sign of not a complete reaction? Washing came to mind as well.

 

[bbressler]

Could be under-reacted oil or glycerine. A proper complete washing should get rid of both. I think you can try the 27/3 test to check for under-reacted oil if you want to do that as well.

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

ok whats the 27/3 test? and what would make it thicker then the original viscosity of the oil? as for being under reacted what would be the cause of that? not enough mixing? i mixed it for about 2 hours, let it settle for 24 hours and. no washing and filtered to ten micron, I now have filters to filter it to one micron. wonder what I should do with the stuff in the tank? thats gonna be a problem to get out isn't it? or could I mix some regular diesel with it and thin it down?

 

[hheynow]

ok whats the 27/3 test?

27/3 test

 

[bbressler]

Since you say you didn't wash it, I'd lean towards that being the culprit. Washing is *very* important.

If it was me, I'd siphon the tank dry (maybe even drop it and wash it out). The glycerine that's in there will cause lots of clogged filters if you don't get it out. Take the bio you get from the tank and run it through a few wash cycles to see if it clears up. Then, you can try using it again and see what you get.

Under-reacted oil comes from a variety of things. If you didn't have enough lye (or the lye reacted with water before reacting with your oil), if you didn't have it up to a high enough temp (or mix long enough for that temperature).

The colder your oil is when you process, the longer you have to mix it to get a good reaction. Shoot for at LEAST 120, but 150 or 160 would be better. Then mix two hours (go long if you want to).

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

ok thanks, I had the temp at about 140 when I added the methanol and iirc i was able to keep it about there throughout the process, correct me if I'm wrong , doesn;t the methan0ol boil or evaporate at 135 or so? So what you saying is I can run my temp up to 150 or 160 and then add the methanol? I think I need to do a better titration instead of doing test batches. this bio is starting to become more worik then its worth. or does it get easier when I get it down? thanks again.

 

[rickh]

135 MAX reaction Temp.
2 hrs mixing good, 24 settling a little excessive but with KOH fine with NaOH better hope the temp stays up or the glycerol may harden.
YOU MUST WASH out the excess Lye and methanol. DO NOT SKIP this step. Dry or wet wash either way WASH IT!
If whats in the tank is 100% I think I would consider draining it or at the least topping the tank off with petrol overpriced fuel.
Rick H...

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

135 MAX reaction Temp.
2 hrs mixing good, 24 settling a little excessive but with KOH fine with NaOH better hope the temp stays up or the glycerol may harden.
YOU MUST WASH out the excess Lye and methanol. DO NOT SKIP this step. Dry or wet wash either way WASH IT!
If whats in the tank is 100% I think I would consider draining it or at the least topping the tank off with petrol overpriced fuel.
Rick H...

Yep I think this is what happened. it ran fine with the fuel i there though, just wish I would have ran that tank out.