Alrighty! Whos making AND using BD?

[Ford_Forgotton]

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METHANOL harmless?? If the methanol stays in the biodiesel, the biodiesel isn't harmless.
If you drink the stuff let me know when you go blind. Eye Doctor talking here.

Big difference between ETHANOL and METHANOL! In fact if you mistakenly drink methanol take a swig of whiskey or any drinking alcohol FAST! The drinking ethanol will take up the receptor sites before the methanol will(hopefully) and keep you from going blind!

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Pure, properly processed Bio-D is harmless (but will prolly give you a bad case of the craps).

However, its the "properly processed" part that could bite you. Properly processing means washing the Bio-D and taking pH readings of the wash water to acheive a pH of 7. pH of 7 indicates you have removed all of the LYE. (The use of vinegar may be needed in the WASH water to react and neutralize the lye).

After washing, the Bio-D should be allowed to SIT for a period of time to allow for any residual unreacted METHANOL to evaporate. Heat may be applied to speed up the process, but in a "green" setup, the use of outside energy is discouraged. Unless you built some kind of trick solar cooker system.

But wouldnt that be a neat trick at the fuel station? Taking a gulp out of the nozzle in front of a crowd before sticking the nozzle in the fuel tank?! I can picture some of the reactions already!! nah, lets leave that trick to the WVO guys.

[jdkline]

The eye doctor is right! Methanol will blind you, in fact they had a lot of methanol poisoning during Prohibition because of adulterated ethanol. It can also be absorbe through teh skin, but I think this will require large amounts of it. I try to use common sense, avoid any possibility of getting methanol or lye anywhere near food or drink, wear gloves, use it outside and not breathe in any fumes. I just treat it with respect, like paint thinner, spray ppaint, or anything else I wouldn't want to get into my system. Now most of the methanol and lye are used up in the esterification reaction, and whats left falls into the glycerin layer in a decent reaction, BUT, is what's left enough to caue any harm, probably not, but I still think you ought to wash the biodiesel at least once before you consider it safe for extended skin contact. Only an idiot would drink any type of motor fuel, natural or otherwise. The fumes are basically not an issue, like diesel, biodiesel doesn't fume too much, though it does have an interesting and distinctive odor. He's also right about the ethanol being the "sort of" antidote for methanol poisoning. It cannot be made non poisonosu, but it does interfere with methanol's absorbtion by the body. This is important because when methanol is metabolised, it breaks down into formic acid, whic attacks the eyes, causing a form of blindness similar to macular degeneration, and attacking the kidneys and other internal organs. After a wash or two, I treat biodiesel like I would diesel fuel. I use it as a fuel and a cleaning solvent/lawn and garden lubricant. If it was toxic, I'd probably have been poisoned already.