Alternative fuels > Bio-diesel Fuel
old methanol - any good?
captfred:
Several years ago a guy on island obtained a 55gal (44gal or 205litre) drum of methanol - he's asking 200bucks for the drum. Does anyone know how to test if it's any good? Have plenty wvo and would like to try making biodiesel but don't want to buy a drum of haz-mat needing disposal.
Any suggestions are, as always, greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Fred
mike90045:
If it has not been sealed well, it could have soaked up moisture from the air. take a sample, and see if it burns cleanly & completely, or if there is residue left in your dish. Are you using it for veg oil conversion process, or engine fuel ?
captfred:
Thanks mike, I'll try burning a sample first and see what the results are.
I would like to try some biodiesel production - NaOH is plentiful - the problem has been getting the methanol.
Cheers, Fred
biobill:
Unless you got lots of water in it, I don't think you will see any left in the dish. It'll cook off as the meth burns. If the drum has been outside and rain has collected in the rim, it's possible for it to get sucked in when the sun goes down (and the barrel goes BONG), but if the seals are intact and the bungs are tight, you're probably OK. Can you get a sample and try a micro-batch?
rcavictim:
Perhaps one could test burn a small measured sample and allow the exhaust to flow over a cold surface (like a refrigerated piece of glass, say the botom of a pyrex kitchen bowl containing ice water) to view the amount of water vapor present as condesate. Try the experiment with new, pure alcohol first and note the amount of condensate, then repeat the experiment with a similar small sample volume of the alcohol suspected of possibly containing excess water. Would the polluted sample not reveal itself by creating more condensate?
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