FIXING A BAD BATCH OF BIO?
 

hey guys i just started making my own bio diesel not long ago. I have made 2 successful batches and my trucks seems to love it. now on to my problem, this batch i had no glycerin separation:argh:, i found out after the fact it was most likely from wet WVO. is there any way to "fix" this batch or just pitch it?

Thanks
Dean

You're best bet would be to dry the failed batch if it does have water in it. Can you see water separated at the bottom, or is the entire batch very cloudy?
If it does have water settled out, dump as much as you can.
For drying, you can bubble air through it (using an airstone and an aquarium pump) and use a submersible aquarium heater to warm it up. Make sure to have a lot of ventilation, as the methanol will also evaporate off a bit.

When you do get it dry, you'll have to re-brew it with more methanol and lye.
Or, you could send it off to a hazardous waste disposal collection site and have them deal with it.....

If it isnt a big batch your time would be better spent pitching it. Make sure it is neutral before you titrate. too high of acid content will make problems...

I really dont want to pitch 40 gals away...i dryed it out real good, so whats the best way to make sure it is neutral before reprocessing?

get some ph paper or meter and check it. i had a batch once that i had to do twice. this is a good site for starting out, and very helpful to contact:tu:

Make your own biodiesel - page 2: Journey to Forever

Results?
 

Did you figure out what went wrong and how to avoid it next time?:pca1:

bump