Using Magnesol.

[dgs]

The recent post regarding Magnesol by biobill has re-kindled my interest in this stuff. I used to use it all the time several years ago (as, I'm sure did a lot of brewers)

It is regarded by many as an 'old fashioned' way to purify biodiesel and fell out of favour with most because of reports that it couldn't be filtered out easily. I think there was a 'scare' with people being worried about traces of a mineral compound being left suspended in the bio, engine wear etc.

I have two tests running at the moment, my present 200 litre batch was split and half was finished normally. The other 100 litres I have mixed with about 500gms of magnesol and it is settling, I will leave it for a few days and then centrifuge it to see if any magnesol was left in suspension. I will also compare the resultant colour of this with untreated bio.

The second test is simply 3 heaped teaspoons of magnesol mixed with 400 mls of oil, heated to about 50degs, stirred, then left to settle. I will compare the colour with untreated oil out of the same cubie.

There are fryer filters available that filter the hot oil through a sealed screen containing magnesol, apparantly this lightens the colour and removes FFA's. I've seen these demo'd on utube but they are expensive.

Trinity are presently offering a 20kg bag for £9.99 (originally in the old 25kg bags the price was £85)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-x-20kg-Dry-Wash-Magnesol-Biodiesel-Treatment-/332167131124?hash=item4d56b42ff4:g:GMMAAOSwUEVYCepJ

If you look at the description it says it can be used for the 1st stage in a 2 part process, which as we know is untrue. Looks as though they have bought a job lot.

This description from the Make Biodiesel site is far more accurate.

http://www.make-biodiesel.org/Dry-Washing-Biodiesel/dry-wash-biodiesel-with-magnesol.html

I will post some pictures when my tests are complete.

[Tony]

In the early days I bought bio from a commercial supplier that used Magnesol, it was after 200l of this stuff that my IP started misbehaving and eventually failed (couldn't draw fuel from the tank).  His filter arrangement had four in series after the Magnesol drywash.  Personally I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

[dgs]

I think it depends on how long the bio is settled after mixing. I used it on and off for about 3 years and never had a problem.

The guys at filtertechnik would force filter it during mixing, so the magnesol would 'cake' on the inside of the filter and act as a secondary filter.

If your IP problem was due to the magnesol then the bio wasn't settled for long enough.

From make Biodiesel;

One of the reoccurring arguments against using magnesol is that it will leave fine abrasive particles behind in the fuel that can clog filters or damage fuel systems. If not properly filtered this can be the case. However if properly settled and filtered, any particles that remain behind will be too small to have any effect. The advantage of magnesol is that it cleans biodiesel without using any water.

When using magnesol, it becomes much easier to filter if the biodiesel containing the magnesol is allowed to settle for an extended period. The longer the settling time, the more magnesol will settle to the bottom and not need to be filtered.

[Tony]

If the density of magnesol suitable for centrifuging out?

[dgs]

If the density of magnesol suitable for centrifuging out?

Good question, I would think so. At the end of the week I will centrifuge the 100 litres I have treated and we will see. It has been settling since Sunday evening so If I fuge it Friday it has had plenty of time.

The other test with used veg looks good, the treated sample is considerably lighter. I will do titrations and water tests on both and then post the pics.

[Manfred]

It's interesting that you are conducting these tests now as only last weekend I was reading about using silicates to reduce the colour of bio. I didn't realise that magnesiol is a silicate as none were mentioned.
 I was reading about it as after 18 months of dry wash I washed my last batch to see if the bio lightened in colour.
 Are you settling the freshly made bio first to allow soaps to drop then either washing or magnesol treating the settled bio.

[dgs]

Manfred, at the moment I am only mixing with Magnesol after water washing and drying. This test is only to see how much the Magnesol will lighten the bio.

I may in the future de-meth a batch, then use Magnesol and see how pure it leaves the bio after settling and filtering. During a 'normal' process I do the 5% prewash method (or at least my version of it, probably more like a 1.5% prewash) I don't like de-mething dry bio nowadays as I've taken to the idea of the reverse reaction thing. However I believe that using Magnesol will remove any monoglycerides formed.

The naturally occurring form of Magnesium Silicate is Sepiolite (although it has a much more complicated formula) which I have been using for a long time (bought as cat litter)  as a dry wash media mixed with oak shavings. It does indeed lighten the colour of biodiesel.

When I was bench testing it I had a small sample that I had passed through the sepiolite several times, it had no colour at all. The trouble is that its ability to remove the colour from bio is short lived, so the advantage with Magnesol is that it is replaced for every batch so using a fresh amount each times gives consistant results.

[Tony]

I'm wondering how it is possible to work out how much magnesol has been recovered (by settling or fuging) when there will be other contaminants present too.  It's not water soluble but glycerol is right?

[dgs]

I'm wondering how it is possible to work out how much magnesol has been recovered (by settling or fuging) when there will be other contaminants present too.  It's not water soluble but glycerol is right?

I don't think that would be possible, how could we remove the Magnesol from the bio in the settled proportion. It comes out of the tank like a thick paste. With my present test there will be no soap or glycerol in the magnesol as it was water washed until clear and the soap titration was zero. Weighing any magnesol caught by the centrifuge would be easy. (lets hope that there isn't any)

The settled Magnesol in my wash tank looks really dark coloured with a torch held behind it, this is simply due to the colour removed from the bio.

[Manfred]

It looks like it's doing what I was looking for as in lightening the colour. Just waiting to see if the fudge pulls any out of the bio. If it does after a week of settling would mt 1um cartridge filter be ok or is that a bit risky.

[dgs]

Years ago I spoke to the boss of Filtertechnik about this, he said that a 1 micron filter would remove all the Magnesol but personally I'm not too sure. What I will say is that I believe that any Magnesol particles that remain that are <1 micron would not do any harm.

Lets face it, I used my bio for 3 years by settling the Magnesol for 24 hours only, then filtered through a 1 micron bag filter and had no issues.

[Manfred]

24 hours then a bag filter. That's not much really. I usually do a week or two settling if I have the time so it might be worth a try. What's the postage on a 20 kilo bag as it says to get in touch.

[dgs]

24 hours then a bag filter. That's not much really. I usually do a week or two settling if I have the time so it might be worth a try. What's the postage on a 20 kilo bag as it says to get in touch.

With your amount of settling time that should be good. Looking at the Trinity add again it's buy it now at £30 or a starting bid of £9.99 I think the carraige will be about £12

I have probably 80kgs of the stuff, do you want me to send you some.

[Tony]

What is your reason for wanting to use magnesol?  Is it just to reduce the settling time before the fuel is usable, or does it reduce the soap content below that which is feasible with just settling alone?

[dgs]

I have always been interested in using Magnesol, it seems to me that if it can be used without fear of leaving the bio contaminated then it is such an easy way to purify the bio.

Using KOH the magnesol will reduce the soap content in a far shorter time after the de-meth stage than without.

It would also be nice to produce biodiesel from average used oil that would look as it it was processed from new oil.