Titration question.

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Jun 7, 2008 | 09:44 PM

Rushmore X

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From: Rapid City SD

Titration question.

What should good used oil titrate at? what is the ph where we should look elsewhere? I am going to start titrating oils from different places tomorrow to see what values I come up with.

Jun 8, 2008 | 10:22 AM

Gun-Driver

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My oil has never titrated greater than 1.7, I would say anything at 2.0 or less is good. The other thing to look for is water, take some samples home and do a water test on them.
Quantitative Water Test - Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial

Jun 8, 2008 | 01:45 PM

Rushmore X

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From: Rapid City SD

looked at the link, the next question is how much water is too much?

Jun 8, 2008 | 02:01 PM

fabmandelux

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From: Paradise Found!

I've done testing in my lab with a lab scale ( weigh sample, boil off water, re-weight ) and have found that anything over 2 percent water can cause problems. Excess water will combine with the Lye in a side reaction, which lowers the amount of catalyst required for maximum conversion, resulting in lower quality biodiesel. To much water, and you wind up with "glop-soap"

If you use an "open" style of processor you can see the reaction and can "tweak" it a little by the addition of extra catalyst thereby saving the batch.