It's very simple and easy to do, and NO fire or explosion hazard!

That's the key there, my father was VERY leery about using heater elements submerged. Seems simple enough as long as we have an easy way to control the elements. How much methanol do you recover from demething of the biodiesel itself?

Not a whole lot from the bio itself. Maybe 5-6%. The main reason I do it is because removing the Methanol from the bio causes any suspended soap to fall out, and cut's my Magnasol use by half! It also helps to keep moisture out of the bio. Methanol ATTRACTS water.

Just curious, what made you go with magnasol for your dry wash media? Between magnasol, purolite, amberlite, DW-R10 I'm not sure which to use. Also debating just using woodchips. I have 20' of 8" black pipe and a 13"x4' stainless induction tank sitting around, all possible towers.

I tried several systems, and like Magnasol the best. Just remove the Methanol, add the Magnasol and mix, then let it settle and decant the bio off and done! I have a Gas Chromatograph in my lab, and all my samples show that my bio meets ASTM standards.

Interesting, Ill have to look into that. How exactly do you remove the methanol from the bio? Just heat, or do you aerate it somehow?

It turns into a gas, and I recover it in a condenser. Then I reuse it...:D

I've been debating whether or not to design my setup to recover methanol from the bio. Will aerating the fuel, like with an aquarium pump, help get rid of the methanol faster?

One thing about methanol vapor, beside being explosive, it is very toxic. I think I would do that if there were no chance of spark and direct ventilation to the outside.

Yes, BUT, not a very good idea......Methanol vapors are highly toxic and explosive. Not something I want to put into the atmosphere even outside my shop........

If you recover the Methanol from your glycerol and your bio you can save about 1/3 of your methanol costs, AND have a safe system. A no brainer for me!

I would say so, now it's just a matter of building the setup. What about the purity of the methanol recovered? I'd be worried about having water or other contaminants. Would it make much of a difference if you just used half recovered methanol with half pure methanol for a reaction? Or is there another step involved here?

I monitor the temp and NEVER let it go over 200 deg. This is lower than the boiling temp of water and I haven't noticed any water problems. I DO use a half and half mixture of new and recovered Methanol though........

How many heating elements are you using and do you know what kind of wattage they are? Ill probably be heating anywhere from 120-200 gallons at a time. I think we use 2 1500W elements now to heat our oil, I would assume I should shoot for the same wattage range for distilling?

I've got two 1,500 watt eliments under a 200 gallon insulated tank. It takes about an hour and a half to heat up. Since I live in the eastern Oregon desert I'm putting together a solar heater for summer use for my main 500 gallon WVO storage tank. I think I can get all the heat I need during the summer months for FREE!

Well since I'm majoring in renewable energy I've got to ask you- what kind of solar heating system are you building?
As for the demething tank that sounds do able. Spring break is a month away and hopefully I can get everything built then.