Bugger!

[Mr Tickle]

One of my 3 blue plastic 200 litre drums containing meth has sucked water in and it's now unusable (don't ask me how i know!)

What use is a blend of 180 litre of meth diluted with a few litres of water?

Apart from some de-icer for the car or a massive bonfire for 30 seconds it's such a waste 

[neisel]

Try the Portland cement drying thing mentioned here?

http://biopowered.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3432.msg41708#msg41708

[Mr Tickle]

OK- That looks interesting.

That thread is about removing the water generated in the process of mixing Naoh or Koh to methanol that is not already contaminated with  water, to try and re-create the ASM benefits.
In my case I'm starting with slightly wet meth (maybe 1% water) i tried to make a batch from it at first but the resulting mix was a  soapy wet fudge like mess that took some effort to retrieve, but I managed to make bio from it in the end.

Are you saying that the same method would work to dry it out also? and if so has anyone done this successfully?
I have a few bags of cement spare so I'm willing to give it a go.

Thanks

[dgs]

OK- That looks interesting.

That thread is about removing the water generated in the process of mixing Naoh or Koh to methanol that is not already contaminated with  water, to try and re-create the ASM benefits.
In my case I'm starting with slightly wet meth (maybe 1% water) i tried to make a batch from it at first but the resulting mix was a  soapy wet fudge like mess that took some effort to retrieve, but I managed to make bio from it in the end.

Are you saying that the same method would work to dry it out also? and if so has anyone done this successfully?
I have a few bags of cement spare so I'm willing to give it a go.

Thanks

Yes and yes are your answers.

In fact I recently dried some ethanol for a bio experiment for a friend using CaO (the active ingredient in cement) it worked well and removed the 10% water in the ethanol.

The method will remove the water in your methanol, just leave it a few days after mixing so all the cement fines have settled. Use a cubie for mixing so you can see what you are doing.

[Mr Tickle]

Excellent.

i'll give it a try next weekend then.

Many thanks

[neisel]

Well, how did it go?

[Mr Tickle]

I'm off to France this afternoon, so it could be a bit longer before i try it.
Full tank of bio and 3 containers of fuel in the back for the return journey of course.
(fingers crossed at the port for no checks on my cargo)

[Mr Tickle]

Bugger again!
I have 3 barrels of Meth outside, 1 sucked in a little water, now the 2nd has also! 3rd still ok.

Dave, I'm going to try the concrete method you suggested, but the instructions on the other thread only discuss this when using asm. Can you give instruction when working with wet meth please?

Is it:
1) put 20 litres of meth in a cubbie
2) add some concrete  (not sure how much?)
3) shake and leave to settle a few days.
4) pour off the meth dispose of the cubbie and concrete blob.

[dgs]

I don't recall using this method with asm as it gives rise to a virtually water free process anyway, however your proposed method is fine.

You can start by just drying the methanol, if that works try mixing your methoxide with your wet methanol then adding the cement. I would use about 1kg of cement per 20 litres of methanol and see how you get on.

As you pour the settled methanol off the top be careful not to get the cement fines into your methoxide as you will produce calcium soaps which can be difficult to remove.

Don't waste the dregs of the cubie, as you use the cubies just pour them into one and let then re-settle. Any cement that has reacted with water will be left as a solid lump in each cubie.

Let us know how you get on. i recently did a small test batch using this method with ethanol which had 10% water, the method worked fine.

[Tony]

Ouch.  How about getting a tarp over that third barrel before it goes the way of the other two?
Let us know how you get along with cement drying meth.  I had some reclaimed that probably could have done with that, had to three-stage every batch using it and even then it was a struggle.

[Mr Tickle]

Ouch.  How about getting a tarp over that third barrel before it goes the way of the other two?
Let us know how you get along with cement drying meth.  I had some reclaimed that probably could have done with that, had to three-stage every batch using it and even then it was a struggle.

Indeed barrel no 3 now covered!

[Mr Tickle]

I don't recall using this method with asm as it gives rise to a virtually water free process anyway, however your proposed method is fine.

You can start by just drying the methanol, if that works try mixing your methoxide with your wet methanol then adding the cement. I would use about 1kg of cement per 20 litres of methanol and see how you get on.

As you pour the settled methanol off the top be careful not to get the cement fines into your methoxide as you will produce calcium soaps which can be difficult to remove.

Don't waste the dregs of the cubie, as you use the cubies just pour them into one and let then re-settle. Any cement that has reacted with water will be left as a solid lump in each cubie.

Let us know how you get on. i recently did a small test batch using this method with ethanol which had 10% water, the method worked fine.

I'm a bit confused about the bold bit?

Are you saying just mix 1kg of Cement in 20 litres methanol and then use that methanol to make methoxide?
Also how long do I need to leave the cement in the cubie and hour or so or overnight?

Thanks

[dgs]

Yes, thats what I am saying. leave the cement/methanol mix at least 2 days for all the fines to settle, then decant the methanol and mix with your catalyst.

If that works ok then for the next batch use your wet methanol  and mix with your KOH then add the cement and mix it, leave it to settle etc. Remember that KOH contains 10% water, so using this method not only will the cement dry the methanol it will also remove the water in the methoxide due to using 90% KOH.

[Mr Tickle]

Ah Ok, I fully understand now.

Many thanks will give it a go this weekend.