I've always done it that way! Should I change?

[Dickjotec]

Dangerous I know but I have been thinking.......
My process.
2 stage no tit.

I heat to 40c over a few days with the lister and drain free water.
I heat to 60+ with electric the night before processing.
Next am drain any free water and 2-3 l of oil.
It will have cooled down to 45ish C (processor is insulated but is outside) so I heat to 65 switch off heater then add methoxide and mix.

Would it make any difference if I added the meth at @45c then heated to 65c? I can see no reason that it would make a difference and it would save time.
Thoughts please.
Dick

[nathanrobo]

It'b b fine... I know somebody that does just that and makes great fuel!

[Tony]

I do that frequently if the oil cools too much before processing.  Not a problem at all.

[julianf]

I do it that way - i pump whilst heating, so i figure its just extra mixing time.

[Head Womble]

I do it too, but I still run for the full hour once up to temp, just to be sure.

[Dickjotec]

As I thought, will do it that way tomorrow.
Thanks all
Dick

[Julian]

Me too.  I also run the heater during the reaction.  That way I can start methanol recovery immediately.

[Jamesrl]

Me too.  I also run the heater during the reaction.  That way I can start methanol recovery immediately.

I always use the heater whilst mixing particularly the second stage, I push that to 80C so I can go straight into demeth when the 10/90 is a perfect pass.

I've also injected methoxide at 80C  with no detrimental effect what so ever.

[Julian]

Me too.  I also run the heater during the reaction.  That way I can start methanol recovery immediately.

I've also injected methoxide at 80C  with no detrimental effect what so ever.

I bet that smarted a bit.  Had you run out of methadone?

[Jamesrl]

Me too.  I also run the heater during the reaction.  That way I can start methanol recovery immediately.

I've also injected methoxide at 80C  with no detrimental effect what so ever.

I bet that smarted a bit.  Had you run out of methadone?

Something like that.

[Julian]

Can you easily reach 80°C with all the methanol still in the tank?

I was under the impression the temperature would be suppressed by the methanol evaporating, only increasing as most of it was removed.

[Jamesrl]

Can you easily reach 80°C with all the methanol still in the tank?

I was under the impression the temperature would be suppressed by the methanol evaporating, only increasing as most of it was removed.

I can easily hit 95C with all the meth in the reactor.

There's those who think they know and there us wot do.

In a sealed reactor but vented to atmosphere (GL) once the head space becomes saturated with methanol it can't absorb any more so evaporation stops, The most I've had come out of the condenser, due to gas expansion, is about an eggcup full.

[Julian]

Ah, yes, maybe it's the effectivly "sealed" system that's rubbishing my theroy.

Is the reaction noticibly quicker at those temperatures?

[Jamesrl]

Is the reaction noticeably quicker at those temperatures?

No, I'm a bit of a myth buster I get great pleasure in proving the Bloke down the pub wrong, the Urban Myth says every 10C increase in temperature halves the conversion time, complete and utter tosh.

There's no noticeable difference between 50ish and 80+C, the only way to reduce mix time is by agitation, the more the better, like 3 x eductors.

[therecklessengineer]

In a sealed reactor but vented to atmosphere (GL) once the head space becomes saturated with methanol it can't absorb any more so evaporation stops, The most I've had come out of the condenser, due to gas expansion, is about an eggcup full.

Interesting. That's almost the exact opposite of my experience. Almost all my meth comes out of the condenser while heating to 90, I run compressed air injection to remove the last of it.

Is that with or without the pump running?