wvo sample caught fire?
 

i have an 85 e350 6.9 converted for wvo. in the past i would 'sizzle test' my filtered oil every once and a while to make sure i was de-watering it correctly before putting it in my gas tank. today i heated up a cooking pot and dropped about a tablespoon of oil in, and within seconds it was in flames. big yellow and blue flames that filled the pot and took a while to burn out and left a black mess on the bottom of the pan. i'm trying to figure out which one of my oil sources is putting something in their oil that is flamable (cleaning agent or something??) but in the meantime...i don't know how long i have been burning this stuff. i have probably done a thousand miles on wvo since i last tested a batch. think i did something horrible to my van?

You are probably fine. Oil is very combustible at high temps, e.g. a frying pan. that's why when you do a water crackle test, you should have a all-types fire extinguisher or other flame smothering device at hand. And you should never do a crackle test over an open flame, like a gas burner. only electric. Like all grease fires, you should remove the grease fire from heat (your stove) if safe, then put out the fire with smothering. However I assume you had a drop or table spoon of oil in the pan, so i suspect it really wasn't going to do much harm to your kitchen/house/garage aside from triggering the smoke detector or making the place smell bad for an hour.

huh. so what is the proper way to crackle test my oil? bring it up to heat on a burner and see if it pops? rather than dropping it into an already hot pan?

Here ya' go:

The Hot Pan Test | Quality Testing

A/V oils are highly combustible- like kerosene....while they must be heated abouve 100 degrees to ignite (the point for flammable criteria), once ignited it burns actually hotter than gasoline.......which is why it is illegal in every state to perform such activities in an occupany that is not built to an "H" classification- or meets the open area requirements.

You were just lucky that little tablespoon of AV oil did cause you serious harm.

If you would like the code references for your activities, they are.....
To start with, when you collect, store any product that is combustible, flammable or poses a potential environmental effect in quantities of 30 gallons or more, you are required to have a secondary containment system, spill control and a permit, issued by local, state or federal epa or public health agency (local). This is required under both the CERCLA, the international fire code (adopted by local and state agencies) Article 79 and 80, and permit is required by Article 4.

You must also purchase caustics (sodium hydroxide aka Lye) and alcohol (or a derivative such as methanol) to distill the product....a permit is also required for any purchase of sodium hydroxide or methanol, mixing, dispensing and distillation process (since you have to heat the mixed product to well over 100 degrees- well past the ignition point of the product- same codes all apply. These same codes also require you to have Class I, division 1 or 2 electrical wiring for any inside mixing, storage and dispensing. Why, as an example, if lye comes in contact with aluminum, hydrogen gas is produced, if hydrogen gas (a flammable, used in the Hindenburg) comes into contact with any ignition source (including heat, static charge from rubbing your hair) at minimum you are looking at a flash fire, at worst case, an explosion. Even inhaling minor, the smallest particulates of lye damages the lungs, eventually creating a chemical induced pneumonia- to which there is no cure or treatment. If you think a respirator will take care of that exposure, oops again, your pupils of your eyes and ear drums are direct depositories into the blood stream- absorbing those particulates into the blood stream and transporting them to your liver, kidneys, bladder attempting to be filtered (but not) and re-distributed through the metabolic systems including the bone & bone marrow- where a host of results will (not if) occur…of which cancer would be your least concern…..but it does take 10-30 years for those effects to show…even with the best laboratory equipment. As you pour one liquid into another container, you are creating “static charge” by the mere action of the liquid. Without proper, verified bonding & grounding, the re-routing/reverse of a single static charge will result in a fire or explosion (if it reaches a container)- this evens happens in car when doe to a design flaw (such as in the 1990’s) when GM experienced 2 fuel tank fires in their 2 newest “high mpg” cars because a single static charge was generated during re-fueling, the charge exited the vehicle tank but the newly designed low resistance tires prohibited the charge from “finding the ground” and returned to the vehicles fuel tank. Back in the 70’s (IIRR), the USAF also experience this with a 747 in Texas, causing a fire in one fuel tank and explosion in the center fuel tank which was almost empty.

While it is not illegal in most states to sell the equipment to make the product, it is illegal for anyone to sell the caustics & methanol to you in the quantity required for this process without a business license and other permits- including for transportation (under the Federal code of regulation, part 40 & 49). if you are reported by anyone, they will receive a 10% reward from the national "We-Tip" program- the average (total collected fine and investigation) fine for a "small business" is $1 million dollars, the average clean-up including disposal, assessment and temp permits is $2 million...and this can be instituted by any environmental, public health, fire department, law enforcement agency, district attorney and any local, state or federal agency.

While many will chime in that there's nothing wrong in doing this, or I don't know what I am talking about, check out Tuscan AZ, 2002 the feds came in and arrested a homeowner not for making bio-diesel, but because of the process, they went to jail for child endangerment (seems they had a little fire- I don't recall if it was related to the bio-diesel or not), but the local gov did the reports, the state & feds choose to clean the mess up and prosecute and fine and take everything the guys homeowners insurance would handle...then guess what, although the judge ordered restitution and reduced the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor, he can’t get homeowners insurance...from any company. It's really not worth it.