My brother and I made our first big batch of biodiesel. The first part turned out good but when we tried to water wash we got alot of white glop that settled to the bottom and very little biodiesel. do not know what we did wrong. Need some advise.

 

Sounds like soap, If your conversion was not 100 percent, more soap will be formed than normal. If your bubble wash is to vigorous it will also form soaps.

Try heating the emulsion to 150 dig F and let it settle for a week or two.

FABMANDELUX.

 

What Do We Need To Add To Get 100 Percent Conversion. More Lye Or More Methanol?

 

What amounts of oil/Lye/Methanol did you use, what temp did you heat to, and how long did you mix??

 

Got Your E-mail Fabman.sent You Another.but I Will Ask Here Again. When We Did The Titration Test It Only Took 2 Tenths Of A Milliter To Get A Ph Of 7. We Were Usung Phenol Red And Only 91 Percent Alcohol Would This Matter.

 

That IS your problem Phenol Red will not work, Also by my calculations you did not use The Base amount of 5gms/liter.

It looks like you used the base 3gms/liter from Journey To Forever, This figure has been proven to be totally WRONG.

FABMANDELUX

 

What is the remainder of the "methanol" you are using if the assay is only 91%? The remainder could impede the reaction, or if it is water, form additional soap. This may take a bit longer to settle out, so follow what fabman suggests with the heat and waiting cycle.

Ben