Talk about perfect timing! I recently made up my first batches of biodiesel. A good friend of mine is a petrolium inspector for the state of Wisconsin. Last week I gave him a sample and had him run the standard tests as done on commercial diesel fuel. The lab report came back to me this morning.
The sample I submitted was made from new vegetable oil following the "standard" receipe: 200ml methanol, 3.5gm lye, made in an old blender. I did not wash the sample.
The main test done on fuel is what is called the distillation curve test. A sample of fuel is heated. The temperature at which the fuel first starts to boil is noted. Then, the temperatures at which 10% on through 90% of fuel boils, is noted. The resulting profile determines the characteristics of the fuel. Contamination (such as the inevitible traces of gasoline found in diesel fuel) will cause spikes in the distillation curve. In addition, the flash point, specific gravity, cloud point and other parameters are tested.
The test results of my home-brewed biodiesel were "not good" (in my friend's words.) Without going through the sea of numbers he sent (unless you want me to...) my biodiesel started boiling at 192 deg. F. Diesel fuel (D2) starts boiling at 324 deg. F. (This was probably the residual methanol in the biodiesel.) After that, not much of anything happend until the temp was above 600 degrees, then all hell broke loose. D2 boils at a nice, even rate from 410 through 630 deg. F.
To "cut to the chase," I'll post the lab report verbatim.
"The sample was a solid mass when removed from the lab freezer, which was @18 deg. F.
The solid mass rapidly liquefied when placed in the fume hood. Room temp. was @ 63 deg. F. The sample was completely liquefied in about 30 min.
When completely liquefied, the sample was hazy in appearance. When the container was agitiated, and allowed to rest, a substance which was first thought to be water settled out in droplets.
When again allowed to rest, the liquid showed a phase seperation. When the lower phase material (NOTE: "lower phase" refers to the stuff at the bottom of the bottle) was tested with water detection paste there was no reaction.
The liquid was then carefuly decanted into a large glass cylinder, with all of the lower phase material remaining in the original container. To remove the hazy appearence, the liquid was filtered through ashless filter paper. After filtering, the product was clear and bright, free of any undissolved water and sediment.
The resulting properties of the filtrate was as follows:
API specific gravity: 28.0 (regular D2 sample is 30.2)
Flash Point: 85 deg. F (regular D2 sample is 172)
Sulphur: .0066 wt.% (regular D2 sample is .0208)
The first and second distillation attempt failed. The Initial Boiling Point (IBP) occured rapidly (140 seconds) @ 146 deg. F. After 5% recovery @ 157 deg. F, the distillation rate fell to 0.0 ml/min and the [automated] distillation unit aborted the test. Along with the heavy gravity and low flash point, this indicated that the sample seems to consist of both very low and very high boiling range components, with few midrange components. The 10ml of the recovered distillate from both distillations was collected and examined. After settling, the distillate phase seperated into two components approximately 20% lower phase, 80% upper phase. Both portions of the undistilled sample were retained and conmingled [mixed.]
With the low boiling range components removed, a distillation was performed on the conmingled sample. When heated, some popping and somewhat violent boiling occured, with steam and water droplet formation in the receiver. The IBP of 194 deg. F and the later apperence of water droplets in the bottom of the receiver suggest that the initial drops of distillate consisted of dissolved water in the sample. (NOTE: The methanol I used was 1980 vintage. It may have absorbed some water from the air.)
After the IBP, the distillation temperature remained in a tight range of 622 deg. F to 626 deg. F @ 50% recovered, at which point the distillation was halted. This suggests that some thermal cracking [refining] may have occured, resulting in smaller, lower boiling point molecules forming. The distillation residue in the flask was dark and viscous, and was somewhat difficult to dissolve in tolulene."
(End of lab report quotation.)
I tested some of my homebrew in a 15KVA Kohler genset powered with a Perkins 4-108 engine. It put out full power on the loadbank, and didn't produce any unusual smoke. It seemed to run cooler than when I tested it on D2. The exhaust had the characteristic "french fry" smell. In my opinion the engine actually ran quieter than it did on D2. This is strange because I would think that the "all at once" boiling point characteristic of the biodiesel would cause the engine to run noisier.
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While doing other things I often wish I were hunting
While hunting I seldom wish I were doing anything else
Thats why I am going to sit back and let you guys be the guinea pigs on the home brew stuff. If I had an old diesel tractor, or something other than my PSD, maybe. But not on this engine. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]
I find that if you make the BD, and let it sit out in the heat for a day or two with the lid off, the specific gravity will be dead on (88 grams per 100 ml) to diesel.
Do you think that your friend would he interested in running through a tester batch for us every now and then?
The oil I used was house-brand canola cooking oil. It was hastily sent off for testing without much settling time. (Actually, none..) Also, as stated my methanol was older than some of the memebers on this board. Finally, the finished BioD wasn't washed. My early attempts at washing produced the "DWS" - Dreaded White Stuff. When all is said and done, it was (admittedly) not a very good product. However, my early brew DID start (and cold start, at that) and run in a 15KVA genset.
I've since brewed up over 4 gallons of BioD, (made from WVO) which I will let settle for a few weeks. Then I'll try washing it, and send off another sample once everything goes according to the 'textbook.' No matter how well it is made, I suspect that vegetable oil BioD will not match the distillation curve of petro diesel. But who knows, maybe the "tight" distillation characteristics of BioD might better suit the engine's needs.
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While doing other things I often wish I were hunting
While hunting I seldom wish I were doing anything else
It sounds like you did not allow it to settle enough. Quality biodiesel must be settled and washed. The stuff I get initially when I make bio-D I would not put in anything I care about. The final washed product is pale straw colored and crystal clear without any film or cloudiness to it. That's the way it needs to be before it goes in an engine I think. Let it settle 24 hours then wash it, let it settle until all the soaps and glycerine fall out, then carefully decant the fuel off the top. It will always float as it is less dense than H20, soap, and glycerine. Wash it again, let it settle, and then repeat 1 more time. Also, agitating the mixture gently with an aquarium type bubblergoes a long way to making this work well.
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J.D.'s Fords: 1986 F-250 6.9 diesel Solid State Glow Plug System 3.55 gears C-6 2WD 178,960 miles.... it still runs pretty good!
Wishlist H-max turbo, T19 tranny,
1989 Ford Ranger ga$$er, non runner, soon to be donated or scrapped!
Do you think your buddy would be willing to test you next batch along with some commercially produced BioD?
It would be interesting to see how homebrew stacks up against the professional stuff.
__________________ 1997 F-250 2wd PSD XLT Ext. cab White First time PSD owner (about 3 yrs.)
Mods - A.R.E. topper, Open element air filter, Cozy sheep skin seat cover 185k
That would be an interesting test. It could probably be arranged as my buddy (and more importantly, his boss) were interested in my 'project.' Only trouble is, I don't know where to get commercial bio-d in my area. It's probably available on line somewhere but hazmat fees would probably be charged. It would have to be 100% biodiesel, any petrolium mixed in would skew the results.
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While doing other things I often wish I were hunting
While hunting I seldom wish I were doing anything else
How much do you want?? I have a good source 5 mi from where I live. I'll mail it to you. Can't see why there would be hazmat charges, the stuff is biodegradable.
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Feb 03 6.0 Silver F-250 SD SC XLT long box, 6-spd 3.73ls, Fx4, Stock, Spray-in liner, Contico box.HARPOONED.
A pint or so should do. I [think] the distillation test requires 250ml and they need some more for the flash point test. If you want to send me some I'll PM my snailmail address. We'll just say you are sending me a sample of "cooking oil."
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While doing other things I often wish I were hunting
While hunting I seldom wish I were doing anything else
OMCUSNR_RET: Did you get my PM? I checked the "My Home" section and noticed it said "0 messages sent." So just now I re-sent a PM and it STILL says "0 messages sent."
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While doing other things I often wish I were hunting
While hunting I seldom wish I were doing anything else
Don't remember if I sent a response or not [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] Have aquired 5 gal, and a bottle to ship in. Will fill bottle tonight & post in tomorrows UPS.
Thanks! I'm interested in the results.
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Feb 03 6.0 Silver F-250 SD SC XLT long box, 6-spd 3.73ls, Fx4, Stock, Spray-in liner, Contico box.HARPOONED.
I got tied up at lunch today, so the sample went out after work. For any of you guys who want to track it: UPS 1Z4W594A0368657631 .
Thanks again for doing the sample. This is commercial soy biodiesel, B-100 from Sequential. I get it from Pheonix Organic, & its currently @ $2.95 for off-road. (not dyed though). PO only sells B-100. I've heard that there is another distributor in Medford, but I don't remember who it is.
Reid
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Feb 03 6.0 Silver F-250 SD SC XLT long box, 6-spd 3.73ls, Fx4, Stock, Spray-in liner, Contico box.HARPOONED.
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