Have you seen or heard of a product called Magnesol. It appears to be a Magnesium Sulfate based filter powder that absorbs contaminants from BioDiesel and yeilds a useable filter cake. I saw a write up in Biodiesel Magazine about it. Here is the URL for the Magnesol article

It seems to load a little slow so don't get impatient

 

Correction to above post

Magnesium Sulfate should read Magnesium Silicate

 

Yep, tried it and it works. I tried it over a year ago but I still think it is to expensive. If you read carefully they say their system is cheaper than what the industry uses now [ centrufuges ]. With my work on Hydro-cyclones and seperating glycerol/oil going so well, I'm also going to experiment with using it AFTER processing. I still have sample jars with samples I took 2 years ago and I can see no difference between the washed, unwashed but settled for 1 mo, and the sample I took of the Magnisol ''Cleaned" fuel. Their specs on washed Bio is very interesting..............the info on washed and tested bio just reinforces what I've been saying all along, Washing is not good............


FABMANDELUX.

 

what do you do if you don't wash it. let it settle? for how long? why is this a better way?

i have been looking at buying or making a small bio processor but am undecided the method i want to use. it seems that if you didn't have to wash the bio there would be a lot less work involved.

 

Adam
Washing is problematic.
Emulsification is always a danger.
Disposing of the wash water by dumping it into a city sewage system may be illegal.
It requires the use of a considerable amount of water to wash properly.

However, I think the big advantage is that adsorption filtering removes contaminants that washing will not ie: metal ions, residual glycerin and fatty acids, water.

None of those are desirable in your diesel fuel.

Additionally adsorption filtering seems to improve storage stability, probably because it remove the previously mentioned contaminants and produces fuel ready for immediate use. Both desirable characteristics.
I would think that the latter would be especially important for the small (home brew) producer that cant afford the storage facility for 30 days of post production settling.

Fab
I think the idea of using it as a final step would be excellent for your application.
First it would reduce the amount of absorbent needed to treat each gallon thus reducing cost to an acceptable level.
Second it would give you a little added protection against lawsuits if a "bad batch" slipped thru your system.

 

Would Magnesol work for people running WVO?

 

It won't remove particulate contaminants but would take care of dissolved contaminants. In different packaging it is sold to the food industry to recondition and prolong the life of their fryer oil.

 

Phydeaux88 thanks for your response. i think i understand what you are saying. i am very new to all this bio stuff, but am learning more and more.

A question that i have is: if you let unwashed bio diesel sit and settle for 30 days does that take place of the washing process? after the settling process ends is the bio ready to put in your truck?

thanks again

ADAM

 

Just had another meeting with SS&I today. We are going to do just that. I'll use several Hydrocyclones in a "bank" to pre-clean the bio, then it will go to the Magnesol mixing tank. It should use about HALF of the "normal" amount of Magnesol. The Biodiesel can be used 48 hrs after "brewing". The resultant "press-cake" will be fed back to their cattle herd. Cool.............

FABMANDELUX.

 

No, But PAM will! Polyacrylamide [PAM] is a small "bead" that swells up when in the presence of H2O. This bead will absorb 600 times its weight in water. I've been doing some experiments with dewatering WVO prior to my bio process. I first put a measured amount of water in a measured amount of WVO and mixed compleately, then mixed in the "beads" and let it set overnight. The next day the oil was clear as can be. I Filtered out the beads and weighed the sample, and the sample was the same weight as I started with. Next I put the sample in a shallow pan and heated it to about 220 deg F and got no steam bubbles, a sure sign that the water had been removed. The web site for watersorb is http://www.watersorb.com/index.html

FABMANDELUX.

 

Fabman,

Thank you for the information.

 

Is PAM a one use product or will it dry out if we let it sit so that it can be reused?

 

It can be dried and reused. When you dry it the "beads" shrink back to there original size.

FABMANDELUX.

 

Most large plants DO NOT wash their bio. Most "homebrewers" do. After alot of research I deceided NOT to wash my bio. If you are willing to wait 30 days before use the bio is just fine. I have been using it this way for over 2 years with no problems. I've sent in 2 samples and both came back as meeting ASTM specs. I guess I'm just not a "follower" I want to find out what works for me. There is just something "wrong" about mixing water with fuel.

 

Fabman,

What size of PAM did you buy?

Bryan