drying after water wash - looking to improve

[nathanrobo]

currently using a spray bar ring at 60 - 70 degrees - dries really fast!  Problem is that it spits a bit & fills the air with bio vapours.  Also I reckon that meth is present at very low ppms or % after water washing. 

I'd like to enclose it, but not reduce drying times and eliminate vapours.  I've tried to post in another place but got the usual crappy responses.  It'd be good to get to a simple cost effective solution without the aggro. I've searched a bit on here, but apologies if I missed the answer. 

[K.H]

What about extending the height, a 4" tube going in one side and the same going out to outside then fit an extractor fan but in reverse so you are blowing the fumes/moisture out not sucking thus avoiding meth fumes over the motor?

[Julian]

Have you tried bubbling with a small compressor (much higher volume than an air pump)?  Annular sparge pipe or a compressed air silencer at the bottom of the processor.

By my reckoning a myriad of bubbles will have a greater surface area than a couple of dozen streams of bio.

A mod. I've yet to try is to make a silica gel dryer for the air supply.

[K.H]

Have you tried bubbling with a small compressor (much higher volume than an air pump)?  Annular sparge pipe or a compressed air silencer at the bottom of the processor.

By my reckoning a myriad of bubbles will have a greater surface area than a couple of dozen streams of bio.

A mod. I've yet to try is to make a silica gel dryer for the air supply.

Thats what im using at the moment thanks to your suggestion

[nathanrobo]

What about extending the height, a 4" tube going in one side and the same going out to outside then fit an extractor fan but in reverse so you are blowing the fumes/moisture out not sucking thus avoiding meth fumes over the motor?

I'll try, it. Might post a couple more questions about the detail

[nathanrobo]

Your problem could be solved Nathan if you take Keiths advice. My addition to this would be a fluid trap to, like a U bend to collect the liquidised vapour rather than blowing it to atmosphere

What makes you think there is methanol present following water washing?

Any guidance on materials etc?

ref meth, two things:

some meth test after water washing each batch, others report smelling it when drying after a wash washing. Also when 50 / 50 testing you can get s nearly clear test, then do another wash that goes cloudy.  Explanation could be meth getting to a specific threshold with water washing, below this threshold maybe soaps are released?

[nigelb]

Who's checking and have they any data that suggests methanol still within the solution?

Others could be smelling the bio vapours as you have already described and confusing them with methanol vapours.

As for 50/50 water tests...well we have seen the unreliability of that test so many times that you could dismiss any findings or conclusions.

Materials for a trap?? Has Julian not got some sort of fluid trap on his condenser. If not Julian..then somebody somewhere has posted up a picture of a glass bowl collector on a PD. Not too sure where to look.

[nathanrobo]

Who's checking and have they any data that suggests methanol still within the solution?

Others could be smelling the bio vapours as you have already described and confusing them with methanol vapours.

As for 50/50 water tests...well we have seen the unreliability of that test so many times that you could dismiss any findings or conclusions.

Materials for a trap?? Has Julian not got some sort of fluid trap on his condenser. If not Julian..then somebody somewhere has posted up a picture of a glass bowl collector on a PD. Not too sure where to look.

I'll do a bit more searching on here to see if I can find the trap, maybe an overall design too.

Ref meth testing, I don't do it but I've spoken to two others, both using a breathalyser who see a level of meth after water washing.  I'm going to buy a breathalyser from the bay and I'll report my own results.   There is proper graphed data out there though.

[1958steveflying]

I have had a batch washed for over a week now and bubbler running for 3 days (at ambient temps) which had seriously reduced the amount of water present, however it was not dry. Yesterday I ran it though the spray bar while heating, the smell of Meth was obvious from the beginning (I get an instant headache in the presence of Meth vapour, not scientific I know) up until it had reached about 35 deg when I guess it had all gone as the smell certainly had. From about 50 deg the smell of Bio was dreadful (headache gone though) and the vapour filling the garage totally unacceptable. My spray bar is effectively 16 inches below the top edge and yet the vapour pours out the top.
Unless I can work out some sort of collection method it will be the last time I dry this way.
I no longer live where my processor is so cannot use the compressor method other than when I am there but will work on something along those lines now.

[Julian]

Who's checking and have they any data that suggests methanol still within the solution?

Others could be smelling the bio vapours as you have already described and confusing them with methanol vapours.

As for 50/50 water tests...well we have seen the unreliability of that test so many times that you could dismiss any findings or conclusions.

Materials for a trap?? Has Julian not got some sort of fluid trap on his condenser. If not Julian..then somebody somewhere has posted up a picture of a glass bowl collector on a PD. Not too sure where to look.

It was me who made that, but it was more to see if there was any carry over of condensed Methanol from the condenser than to condense in it's own right.

I guess it could be arranged to catch any condensation in the pipe work to provide a visible indication. ... but you couldn't be sure the pipe work was condensing all the water.

[nathanrobo]

I have had a batch washed for over a week now and bubbler running for 3 days (at ambient temps) which had seriously reduced the amount of water present, however it was not dry. Yesterday I ran it though the spray bar while heating, the smell of Meth was obvious from the beginning (I get an instant headache in the presence of Meth vapour, not scientific I know) up until it had reached about 35 deg when I guess it had all gone as the smell certainly had. From about 50 deg the smell of Bio was dreadful (headache gone though) and the vapour filling the garage totally unacceptable. My spray bar is effectively 16 inches below the top edge and yet the vapour pours out the top.
Unless I can work out some sort of collection method it will be the last time I dry this way.
I no longer live where my processor is so cannot use the compressor method other than when I am there but will work on something along those lines now.

You too Steve?

[1958steveflying]

Breathalyser ordered from the Hong Kong.  Will have to research how to use and calibrate for Meth detection.

[1958steveflying]

I have had a batch washed for over a week now and bubbler running for 3 days (at ambient temps) which had seriously reduced the amount of water present, however it was not dry. Yesterday I ran it though the spray bar while heating, the smell of Meth was obvious from the beginning (I get an instant headache in the presence of Meth vapour, not scientific I know) up until it had reached about 35 deg when I guess it had all gone as the smell certainly had. From about 50 deg the smell of Bio was dreadful (headache gone though) and the vapour filling the garage totally unacceptable. My spray bar is effectively 16 inches below the top edge and yet the vapour pours out the top.
Unless I can work out some sort of collection method it will be the last time I dry this way.
I no longer live where my processor is so cannot use the compressor method other than when I am there but will work on something along those lines now.

You too Steve?

Yes mate, this is the first batch I have dried using this method, previous ones were in processor using the venturi.

[nathanrobo]

Breathalyser ordered from the Hong Kong.  Will have to research how to use and calibrate for Meth detection.

Cool.  Ref calibrating there are a couple of folk who are using them so you could get some idea.  From what I understand, the device will show a level but being able to determine how to translate that to the % in your fuel will require a bit of math.

[nathanrobo]

Ref the enclosed drier. This is what I'm thinking so far in the absence of a specific design, how bout this (mostly Paul C's ideas):

Spray ring in the bottom of the tank with a bunch of holes in it plus tee'd to a riser tube that goes to the top side of the above the fluid level, to allow air to be pumped in with a compressor (without the need for tank connectors etc)?  A spray bar ring in the top doing it's thing, a domed clip top with a chimney, with some sort U'bend and a liquid trap coming off the bottom part of the U?

maybe some sort of way of warming / drying the air to the compressor?  I think there are devices that can be fitted to compressors to ensure that the discharged air is dry.

btw I checked the holes in spray bar and I was wrong (owe JRL half an apology), they are 3mm not 1.5.  Although that still equates to fewer than the 187 holes suggested.