methanol for biodiesel
 

Been having great success making bio. My 300D loves it. Seems the price of methanol keeps going up - like everything else. When I called the bulk plant today to check the prices of yet another drum of methanol, the salesman suggested that I purchase 95% pure industrial mehtanol rather than 99.9% pure racing methanol. It's 10% cheaper. Any educated opinions out there as to whether this is a good idea? I've only used the racing stuff to date.

My methanol is not race fuel, but I don't know what the purity is. All I do know is my methanol works fine. Do you have any idea what the impurity is? If it's water, I would not use it.

If you want fuel...
 

my info (Organic and P-Chem texts) suggest 98% or greater. Below that the reaction goes from esterification to saponification. In other words, you'll make some nice lye soap (or potash fertilizer depending on your catalyst).

Oh, and PS- I let my methoxide get a little moisture in it and I made soap in my second batch.

Off topic, but
 

I just had to ask. I burn biodiesel too and my car has never told me it "loved" it. In fact I'm pretty sure the o-rings in the IP don't love it at all. I have seen several people selling their MBs and they all say they love it. Sooooooooo how do you know it loves it?:D

Chris

washed bio vs unwashed ?
 

I don't mean to hijack your thread but do you folks wash your bio? I have not washed my bio since the first batch. I have made over 1000gals. to date and have had no problems. A good friend of mine is a diesel injection pump specialist. He rebuilds pumps from the largest diesel motors down to the smaller pumps that are used in our MBZ's. He has said repeatedly, that the pumps he sees , that are using bio, is the washed bio pumps are suffering faster and more extensive damage than pumps that are run with unwashed. The main culprit is the residual water in the bio. Most people don't dry enough. He says a total rebuild for all the hard parts and viton seals will run $700 to $1200 depending on the pump manufacture. $300 for resealing with viton. A good point he says is that mercedes uses the best pumps and are the most durable. :) Volkswagen pumps have a higher failure rate and are of much less quality.:(

Race Fuel vs. Industrial Mathanol.....
 

I am guessing here, but Race Fuel most likely has some additives that stabilize the burn (Octane..Cetane type stuff).....where Industrial Methanol is probably just plain Methanol......My source of Methanol is from a Oil & Natural Gas Well Service Co.......they use it as antifreeze, pour it down some wells in wintertime......

SB

EPA know this???:eek:

Didn't realize the IP had "O" rings

News to me too. Well, if it does, the rings "love" bio because in nearly 3 years of running B100, I have no leaks.

I say my 300D loves it because it runs more quietly and gets slightly better fuel milage than petroleum diesel. And, of course, it doesn't stink like petroleum. Although I realize homemade fuels are not failsafe, I feel very comforatable using mine. As for washing, I run unwashed in my 7.3 International and washed in my 300D. Pulled one injector on the 7.3 after about 3K of bio and it looked great. I dry my washed bio with a 120v heater element (appx. 130 degrees F) and push a lot of air through it with an air compressor. It's sparkling clear.

Don't know what the impurities are in the industrial grade. Even if I do get a bit of emulsification (rarely happens anymore), I can eliminate that with heat and washing. So far, so good. I love the stuff.

Yup.....
 

It's a standard practice.......but you would be surprised at what does get overlooked by the EPA here in rural WV......

SB

I have to inquire about the washed vs unwashed. I made BD from June '06 until Jan., when it got too cold in my unheated garage to manipulate the WVO into my processor.

At that time I switched the house back to HHO, and started running the MB on WVO/RUG blend, which proved to be very successful.

It's now about time to begin BD production again to supply the house (I'm way too apprehensive about trying anything like running WVO/RUG in my furnace). I'd love to be able to eliminate the extra two days on each batch that I spend washing and drying.

My questions: Why unwashed on the 7.3 International, and not on the MB? Have you witnessed any issues with unwashed on the MB?

I wash because I don't have time to wait for the methanol to evaporate and all the soap to settle out. Not washing takes a lot more time.

I'm gearing up for commercial biodiesel production this summer. I just completed an exhaustive study of methanol pricing and learned that prices will be dropping very soon. As a result of the RUG MTBE phaseout, almost all methanol in the US now comes from off shore via the gulf of Mex. Google "methanol barge price" or "spot price," double it for final destination costs (shipping) and that will give you an idea what you will be paying soon -- $1.50 to $1.70/gal thru 2010.

Good point BUT...
 

The question is "What is the lowest percent MeOH acceptable?"
Washing (properly, then drying) can produce ASTM standard fuel but it does not uncontaminate bad MeOH or reverse saponification.