titrating oil with whites at the bottom

[alifreddy]

does it need heating in processor first??? or can I titrate oil of the top

[alifreddy]

got a phone call to collect oil from local Chinese half liquid half whites

[alifreddy]

just took it out it doesn't look so bad can just turn it upside down to mix whites then pour a bit in cap and suck oil through pipette for titatration

[Tony]

Watch out because those whites contain a lot of water, so will throw the titration off.  First step is to heat and get the water out, then titrate once it is dry.  Otherwise you are heading for a world of soapy jelly!

[Tony]

Also, we would recommend a two-stage process for anything that may be a little on the challenging side, to get conversion and lower risk of soap.

[nigelb]

I tend to agree with Tony...mix it then dry it before testing it.

Take a look at the "No Titration" method. I've not seen a bad report about this way of production.

So much easier than faffing around with titration chemicals which can become suspect with age.

[Tony]

http://www.biopowered.co.uk/wiki/Two_stage_process_with_no_titration

[Julian]

I've not seen a bad report about this way of production.

You have now ... It can only be an approximation, because of the time the 3/27 takes to settle out the unreacted components (which can be many hours).  Unless you estimate a compensation you will be under dosing all the time and the worse the conversion, the worse the inaccuracy.

Method is good but not perfect.

[nigelb]

Is this something new Julian. Never heard anything about time sensitive drop out.

There was I thinking that test was the most accurate way for home brewers to test fuel.

How long do you suggest we wait for a result?

[Head Womble]

I find settling time for a 10/90 is a bit subjective,
if the upper layer is clear and you can see on globules on the side then it's not likely to drop much if any more over time,
but if you have a cloudy upper layer it can take a few hours before a true reading can be taken.

I normally leave it for around 30min before doing any calculations, and if it's still cloudy add a little more catalyst to compensate.

[nigelb]

I've never seen any sort of layering in the test.

Mine are either cloudy throughout which will result in dropout over a short period. This I've seen a few times. Or the test shows instant clarity. Do I have to wait for dropout on this or can I assume that the oil has converted. 5years I've been doing this and now doubt has been cast over the test.

Confused of Leicester

[Head Womble]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very well,
by upper layer I mean anything above the dropout.

[nigelb]

Sorry I didn't explain myself very well,
by upper layer I mean anything above the dropout.

Ok

[Julian]

In over 5 years, and 120 batches I've only had a truly "clear" pass twice.  Cloudiness will clear over several days and can result in a small amount of drop out.

I'd agree with Womble, 30 mins. as a minimum but I've seen drop out happening over a couple of hours.  How could it possibly be an instant test?

[nigelb]

The majority of my batches show instant clarity on a 5/45 following the test after the second stage. Injecting 5ml of bio into 45 ml of methanol at 20C will normally show a sample that has a "heat haze" but  not cloudy type of appearance. With a little swirling of the jar the sample is instantly clear. This is an instant test.

I am more than a little surprised of your revalation that you have only had two clear passes in 120 batches!! Now I understand why you need to leave your tests for a few hours.

Not so confused of Leicester