While dry washing Biodiesel is starting to gain popularity, water washing is still king. So, being that it's such a popular method for cleansing reacted Biodiesel, it's about time we did an article on how to water wash Biodiesel to ensure you have properly washed all the contaminants out of the Biodiesel.

Why It's So Popular & How It Works
Water really likes to dissolve whatever it comes in contact with. That includes soap, methanol, glycerin, and other contaminants commonly found in freshly reacted Biodiesel. When done properly, it can cleanse the Biodiesel extremely well. Here's why...

It Removes Methanol Like No Other
Methanol likes bonding to water much more than it likes bonding with oils, such as Biodiesel. So, when water is introduced, the methanol latches on to it like crazy and as the water falls through the Biodiesel (because water & oil don't really mix all that well), the water pulls the methanol right along with it. Not even ion exchange towers are this good at removing methanol!

It Dissolves Soap Extremely Well
Whenever we shower or wash our hands, we use soap. One of the reasons for this is because the soap likes to bond with the water and come along for the ride. In the case of washing our hands, the soap also pulls oils right along with it and removes the oil & grit from our hands. This is the same with Biodiesel. As we gently mist a spray of water over the reacted fuel, the soap will bind to the water molecules and fall out of the Biodiesel much more readily than just settling alone. Soap is kind of tricky though in that it also is an excellent emulsifier and if the water is sprayed too hard, we can create emulsions in the Biodiesel...more on that issue later.

It Removes Additional Contaminants
Glycerin, excess catalyst, dirt, grime, flour particles, and anything else that's left over from the oil getting reacted into Biodiesel doesn't stand a chance when water is used as a means to cleanse the fuel. This is again due to waters great ability to dissolve things and then pull them along for the ride as it falls to the bottom of the tank.

Dry wash resins, powders, wood chips, vacuum pumps, or other means of cleansing Biodiesel just can't hold a candle to the all encompassing power of good old water. While dry washing techniques have their place, they often have to be combined with several other technologies to completely cleanse the fuel as well as water does. Can you see where this is going?

So, here's some tips on how to use water to cleanse your Biodiesel squeaky clean.

Tips & Tricks For Successful Water Washing
1) Before you attempt to water wash, be sure your fuel is reacted
- Well reacted Biodiesel just washes better. It's because there's less oil and more Biodiesel in the mix and Biodiesel washes better than oil will.
- To test the fuel, run a simple 3/27 Biodiesel Conversion Test.
The example on the left shows a pass (left) and a failed test (right).

We stock a handy test kit for this exact purpose. Click here to see the kit

When re-reacting, a good rule of thumb is to use 30% of the original catalyst & methanol. Be sure to heat the fuel back up too before re-reacting. Reactions LOVE heat.


2) To Wash Biodiesel, You'll Use Approximately The Same Amount Of Water As The Fuel You Need To Wash
- For example, if you are washing 50 gallons of Biodiesel, expect to go through 50 gallons of water. How much exact water used will depend on how aggressive the water spraying is, how warm the Biodiesel is, how hot the water is, and how dirty the fuel is. All of these factors can influence the amount of water required to wash.

3) Don't Spray Too Aggressively At First. It's Bound To Make A Mess
The first wash is the one that you have to be the most careful with. Spray too aggressively and it's bound to emulsify the soap into a goopy mess. In general, if you have a manual mist-washing system, heat up the Biodiesel, turn on the misters, and then carefully watch the Biodiesel to make sure an emulsion isn't starting to form (it'll look like a whitish yellow milk shake. It starts off looking kind of like skim milk and can develop into what looks like cottage cheese or mayonnaise.

Emulsion can be broken using salt water and can be prevented by adding a little vinegar to the water, but the best way to keep them from happening is by going fairly easy with the water on the first wash cycle. You'll notice that the first wash water will always seem to be the most cloudy and white. This is due to water working it's magic and removing the soap. Over time you'll discover just how hard you can spray with the first wash, but I always recommend going as easy as you can on the first wash cycle & get more aggressive with the spray on the subsequent washes.

4) In General, Do At Least 2-3 Mist Wash Cycles And Then Check Soap Levels. Continue To Wash Until The Soap Is Completely Removed.
Biodiesel will vary in the amount of soap produced during the reactions. Typically, the higher the titration, the more soap is going to get produced. More soap means longer wash times to get it all out. But in general, usually 2-3 mist washes will get the majority of the soap out.

To check for soap, start off by doing what's called a "Shake-Em Up" test. Basically, fill a jar half-way full of the washed Biodiesel, then fill the rest of it with water. Cap it and then shake the living crap out of it. Then, let it settle for about 20-30 minutes. Return and check the clarity of the water on the bottom. If it's still hazy & cloudy, you still need to continue washing.

If it's nice & clear, then you're almost there! The next step is to do a full-blown soap titration test on the Biodiesel to see if all the soaps are removed. This is done by using a Soap Testing Kit.

You can make one of these up yourself by purchasing all the chemicals and equipment needed, or stop by our site and check out our handy Soap Testing Kit.

We have 2 YouTube videos on how this test can be performed.
Video #1 Video #2

Once all the soaps are removed from the Biodiesel, then it's time to start drying the fuel.

5) When Drying, Heat, Circulation, And Air Flow Are You're Friends
There are several ways to dry the washed Biodiesel. The most common being just plain old heat & time. Followed next by bubbling air through the fuel. However, one of the most effective ways to dry Biodiesel is by both heating AND circulating the fuel back on top of itself. Click here to see a really nice Biodiesel drying setup.

Adding a fan to blow across the top also will speed up the drying process as well.


We stock a nozzle called a Dry Pro that is great for this type of application. Whether you use a nozzle like this, a shower head, or even just a hose with a bunch of holes punched through it draped over the top of your barrel, the goal is to spray the fuel back on top of itself to air it out. You can read more about this drying technique at the Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial website. Click here to see the article

There are several ways to check to see if it's finished drying, but the quickest test is by using the hot pan test. Click here to see a video of this test. Basically, heat up a pan, then drop in about 30 mL of Biodiesel. Then watch for bubbles or steam. If you don't see any, your fuel is dry!

When water washing Biodiesel properly, the end result can be extremely well cleaned Biodiesel that is ready to use!

So there you have it, our tips for water washing Biodiesel to get it nice & squeaky clean and dried! Go Bio!

New Products
We have some great new products to show off this time around and are excited to have them in our product line-up.

As always, some of our greatest products come about because of suggestions from customers. If there's something you'd like to see us offer, be sure to contact us & we'll check into it.

Biodiesel Glycerin Soap Making Kit
We've recently gotten hooked on making soap from Biodiesel glycerin (see article below) and as such are excited to tell you about our new Biodiesel Glycerin Soap Making Kit 

This kit has everything you need to make 40-50 bars of soap from Biodiesel Glycerin. The kit comes with demethylated glycerin, fatty acids, lye, gloves, safety goggles, a pocket thermometer, and a set of great instructions. We even have a video online to show you how to use it.

The bars, when made properly, are just as hard as the high priced boutique bars and work equally as well. I've been showering with a bar that I made from one of these kits now for nearly a month and it's held up incredibly well! Click Here To Read More About The Kit

Making Biodiesel Soaps Book

In addition to our Soap Making Kit, we're proud to announce the introduction of an additional Biodiesel glycerin soap making instruction manual. This book, called Making Biodiesel Soaps, was recently published by Rick Knicely of the Knice-N-Clean Soap Company. It contains over 80 pages of material that will teach you how to make high quality soaps that rival their store bought counter parts.

By using special soap making techniques, Rick introduces us to the use of additives that hand made soap makers have been utilizing for years to do such things as change the color, texture, hardness, fragrance, and other properties of the soap they make. By adopting several of these techniques, you can make some of the hardest bar soaps around or some of the smoothest silkiest gel soaps available.
Click Here To Learn More About This Exciting New Book

Bag/Sock Filters In Various Micron Ratings
We've been selling filters for years, but have had several requests to offer bag/sock filters. We took a while doing some research and partnered up with Nebraska BioPro and are now proud to offer you these outstanding bag/sock filters at incredibly low prices.

Available in absolute micron ratings of 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, or 400 microns, they're a great addition to any Biodiesel or straight vegetable oil setup! Available in two sizes, 7"x16" and 7"x32", each filter comes with a convenient handle on top that can be used to suspend the filters in a barrel, tote, or anywhere you need it.
Click Here To See Our Great Selection Of These Exciting New Filters

The Whirlybird Hand Operated Centrifuge
We're excited about this one! It's called the Whirlybird Centrifuge and allows you to centrifuge liquids up to 3,000 RPM's just by using the hand-operated crank.

It can quickly centrifuge solids, water, or other contaminants out of Biodiesel or vegetable oil so you can identify how clean the sample is. We were able to easily centrifuge the water out of a sample of Biodiesel that we spun in the centrifuge.
It's extremely portable due to it's removable crank and removable sample carriage. It connects to most any surface with an easy to tighten thumb screw. Click Here To Learn More And To See It In Action

Glass & Poly Centrifuge Tubes

If you've been making Biodiesel for a while, or even if you haven't, you may have heard that some people are making soap out of their Biodiesel glycerin.

When people first discovered that you could make soap from Biodiesel glycerin, the soap that was made was usually really brown looking, kind of looked like....well, let's just say it didn't look all that great, and it didn't smell all that good either. If you made bar soap, the bars were usually squishy and slimy looking. In other words, yeah, it was soap, but most people, and especially women (my wife included), wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole! "Ew! Is that supposed to be soap? Get that out of my house this instant!"

Some people could get used to the look, feel, and smell of the stuff while others just completely abandoned it all together. But still others out there being ingenious and curious, decided there had to be a better way to turn the glycerin into soap that rivaled commercially produced soap.

One of these individuals is Rick Knicely from Michigan. Over the last few years Rick has been working on making better soap out of his Biodiesel glycerin that don't turn out to be the "gooey, brown, nasty soap bars". Through lots of research into traditional and commercial soap making, Rick discovered that it's possible to make bar soap from Biodiesel glycerin that resembled the stuff you could get in the store. You know, nice, hard bars that didn't feel all gooey & nasty that lasted a long time under heavy use.

He also discovered that he could color the soap too! From pink to green to tan to red, he discovered that with a little work, virtually any color was possible. He found that he could do the same with liquid soaps made from Biodiesel glycerin as well. As he did his research he took meticulous notes on all his findings and has recently published a book called Making Biodiesel Soaps.

A few months ago I started visiting with Rick and was amazed by how well his soaps turned out. They were of extremely high quality, felt much like high quality soaps you'd buy in the store (nice & hard), didn't "sweat", lathered extremely well, and lasted much longer than any previous Biodiesel glycerin soap bars I had ever tried. Needless to say, I was hooked and still am.

So what's the "More Than Just For Cleaning..." part? Well, the other day I had someone stop by to talk about making Biodiesel and I showed him a bar of soap that I'd made using Ricks newly released Basic Biodiesel Glycerin Soaps kit (I've been one of the beta testers for the kit). The guy was amazed at the soap and the conversation that ensued went something like this.... "Do you realize what you have here?" "Yeah, soap!" "No, you have a green product that you could easily market in boutique's and craft stores for about $3-$5 a bar!" "Yeah?" "Yeah! People LOVE this kind of stuff!" "Well, I know it works really good too..." and I went on to tell him some of my success stories of how well it removes stains, cleans clothes, pulled baby butt cream out of my daughters hair, etc....

By that time I could see the numbers going through his head..."How much glycerin did you use to make these bars?" "Well, about a gallon of glycerin made all 40 bars"...."Let's see...40 x $3 is $120. How much glycerin does a 50 gallon batch make?" "About 10-12 gallons" "OK, 10 gallons times $120 is $1200. How much does the soap cost to make?" "Well, roughly about .10-.20 cents a bar, depending on how you make it". "Even if you sold these for $3.00 a bar and assumed $0.20/bar for cost, that's over 90% profit!" And that's when the light went on inside my head and I've been excited ever since that day about the prospect of soap from Biodiesel glycerin.

I'd then remembered that there were several people I'd heard of that were making and selling their soap they'd made on a regular basis and doing quite well. In other words folks, we're all sitting on a gold mine! That big old drum of glycerin you have sitting in the back yard is possibly worth up to $120/gallon in the form of potential soap sales! Our biggest problem with it is that most people haven't liked the kind of soap it produces, but now with the new methods that Rick has been pumping out, it can gain a much wider appeal! In other words, we now have the knowledge to make soap that rivals the best out there. In color, texture, effectiveness, longevity, and smell!

In the case of Tim from Utah (the guy I've been experimenting making soap with), once people get their hands on a couple bars of his soap, they just have to have more! They love the stuff! Even if you didn't sell the bars for $3.00/bar, you'd still come out on top! It's a built in revenue generator....and we used to throw this stuff away! Tim now keeps every drop of glycerin we make and turns it into soap. He's made well over 800 bars of the stuff and people just can't seem to get enough of it!

To help people get started making soap, we now carry a Basic Soap Making Kit that comes with everything you'll need to make 40-50 bars of soap. You just heat up the demethylated glycerin in a pot, mix the included Lye with some distilled water, pour in the included fatty acids, mix it all together and pour it into a soap mold that you can make using the box that comes with the kit.

I think it's a great way to introduce yourself or others to making soap from Biodiesel glycerin. Once you've made a few bars and tried it, I'm sure you'll want to make more (I know I did!). From there you can learn the basics of soap making from Glycerin by picking up a copy of one of our two soap making publications. We've already told you about Rick's great book. Now with Rick's book on how to take it to the next level, we believe that making soap from Biodiesel glycerin has finally come of age.

We now have the ability to make really high quality soap that appeals to nearly everyone, color and fragrance the soap, and then package and market the soap in a way that's bound to catch on! We can't think of a better way to get rid of the glycerin that used to be considered a nuisance!

Because I'm so excited about the prospect of making & selling soap from Biodiesel glycerin, I've started work on sourcing supplies and equipment to make the soap with. Things like molds, bar cutters, pH meters, and a whole host of products will soon be making their way to our site to help support you as you begin to make soap. We're in the middle of testing a wide range of products to make sure they live up to the Utah Biodiesel Supply standard before releasing them, but be sure to stop by as we'll start releasing them soon. If any soap makers out there have idea's for things we should look at, be sure to send them in. Our best products always have come from customer suggestions and I'm sure soap making will be the same. Happy Soaping!!!

With the new 2010 Chevy Duramax coming out with a new engine that could handle up to 20% blends of Biodiesel (Read: It'll handle B100 just fine...), others were soon to follow.

The latest news is that Ford, now out of a contractual relationship with International Harvester, is free to make their own diesel engines.

The newest diesel engine to come out of this is the all new Ford 6.7 Liter Powerstroke Diesel. This is an all new design from ground up with brand new cutting edge technology that's claimed to do amazing things (time will tell how well the marketing hype really is).

One bonus of developing the engine in-house is that Ford was able to build an engine that can ALSO run on B20! (can't be beat by Chevy, now can we...).

Details of this exciting new engine can be found in this article I stumbled on (Click here to see the article). No specifics are given on how it's managing the DPF cleaning system except that they claim it's now compliant with B20. My guess is that they've eliminated the deadly spray of unburned fuel into the combustion area (known as post-injection) and probably moved it into the exhaust manifold or just outside the turbo. Who knows? But, they are claiming that the engine is compliant with B20, so it's possible it will be able to handle B100 as well.

I don't have any friends "on the inside" at Ford like I do at GM, but if Ford wants to compete with the new B20 compliant Duramax engine, chances are this new power plant will have no problem eating all the B100 you can feed it. Here's hoping anyway....

I haven't heard any news out of Dodge yet on the Cummins being B20 compliant, but I did read in Diesel Power Magazine that Chrysler has allowed their contract with Cummins to expire. With FIAT now at the helm of Dodge, there's been no word yet on what might happen with the Dodge/Cummins partnership. If Cummins does stay with Dodge, I'd be willing to bet that by the end of the year we'll see a B20 compliant Cummins engine announced as well. 

Keep an eye on Diesel Power Magazine for updates or keep reading our newsletters as I'll be doing another engine update in our next issue. Until then, keep on burning the bio!

As with any new and exciting technology, the world of Biodiesel seems to be in a constant state of change.

Some of these changes have made how we make Biodiesel much,
much easier, such as dry washing while other discoveries have made it possible for Biodiesel production enthusiasts to make extremely high quality Biodiesel, such was the case with the introduction of the 3/27 Biodiesel Conversion Test.

No matter what new technologies or changes come along, you'll certainly want to find an easy way to keep up with it all. Below are a few suggestions for helping you stay on top of all the exciting discoveries and technologies that happen in relation to Biodiesel.

Biodiesel Forums
One of the absolute best ways to learn not only new and exciting discoveries about Biodiesel, but also lots and lots of cool, new tricks as well as helpful information on Biodiesel is through the use of forums dedicated to Biodiesel. Truth be known, it was through a couple of Biodiesel forums that I was introduced to Biodiesel and it's also been how I've kept up on much of the exciting new technologies that have come along plus, you have a built in support group for producing your Biodiesel. Here's a list of the forums we highly recommend.

The Infopop Biodiesel & SVO Forums Our Personal Favorite
http://www.biodieseldiscussion.com
This is by far the largest and most widely used Biodiesel forum around. I'd dare say it's the largest Biodiesel forum period! On it you'll find sections for just about anything Biodiesel related you could think of as well as a rich section on straight vegetable oil as well.

It's broken down into sections and subsections to make things easy to find and is incredibly easy to use. Because it's one of the most active Biodiesel forums, it tends to be where all the Biodiesel production experts hang out. It's populated with chemists, physicists, commercial production experts, pump experts, heating experts, welding experts, diesel engine experts, you name it, they're all there...and participating on a regular basis!

Here's a brief overview of the Biodiesel subsections on the site:
General Discussion - Pretty much anything Biodiesel related.
Making Biodiesel - All about making Biodiesel and improving the art.
Biodiesel Quality - Here they discuss quality testing and improving the quality of how Biodiesel is made.
Biodiesel Equipment - Anything equipment related that ties in with Biodiesel. Be that processors to super suckers to methanol recovery tanks. It's all discussed here.
Acid Esterification - All about making Biodiesel with sulfuric acid.
Biodiesel Safety - Topics include what NOT to do and how to keep you safe. Also threads on preventing fires and safety issues are discussed on a regular basis.
Uses For Glycerin By-Product - Everything you wanted to know about using Glycerin from Biodiesel is discussed here. From recipes on how to make soap to making Glycerin logs to giving it to waste water treatment plants. It all gets discussed here.
Methanol Recovery - Dedicated to helping people recover methanol from Biodiesel and Biodiesel Glycerin.
Making Biodiesel With Ethanol - How to make Biodiesel with Ethanol instead of Methanol (ah...the many uses of moonshine!)
Dry Washing Biodiesel - Some of the best experts on dry washing Biodiesel post here on a regular basis; including Arbor Biofuels Company. Stop by here to learn from the pro's!
Dewatering/Drying Washed Biodiesel - Tips & tricks on how to properly dry Biodiesel after it's been water washed
and many, many others...

They also have a great Classifieds section with divisions for diesel vehicles and Biodiesels & SVO Equipment (Used BioPro Anyone?)

Be sure to stop by. You'll likely learn something new with each visit plus get to see all the exciting things that are going on in Biodiesel.

Biodiesel Now http://www.biodieselnow.com
- This one has more of a commercial flair to it. Not a lot of home scale Biodiesel production discussions, but definitely a place to stop by to keep up on Biodiesel research, the commercial Biodiesel industry and even details on Algae Biodiesel occasionally.

Biodiesel Pictures http://www.biodieselpictures.com
- This one is hosted by us here at Utah Biodiesel Supply. It's a forum where anyone can post pictures of their Biodiesel equipment for free. Stop by to get all sorts of great ideas on how to set up your equipment or just to see some great pictures of the great things people are doing with Biodiesel.

Biodiesel Yahoo Groups
These are more like email lists, but there's plenty of great Biodiesel gems to be plucked from them.
Biodiesel Basics Yahoo Group - Great place for beginners
Biodiesel Yahoo Group - Great for general Biodiesel knowledge
Local B100 Biz - All about business related issues with Biodiesel

Great Biodiesel Websites
Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial - http://www.biodieseltutorial.com
- For some of the greatest basic information around on Biodiesel including some of the "standards" for making Bio with sulfuric acid and 3/27 Biodiesel Conversion Testing, this one can't be beat.

How To Make Biodiesel - http://www.make-biodiesel.org
- Written by Rick from B100 Supply fame, this one contains well written articles on just about every imaginable subject surrounding making your own Biodiesel. Highly recommended!

National Biodiesel Board - http://www.biodiesel.org
- This is the trade organization for the commercial Biodiesel industry. Here you'll find all sorts of information on the commercial aspects of making, selling, distributing, and even buying Biodiesel. They keep tabs on all the industrial aspects of Biodiesel including new information on diesel vehicles compatibility with Biodiesel, tax incentives, government programs, and anything relating to the commercial Biodiesel industry.

University of Idaho Biodiesel Program
http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/bioenergy/
- Headed by Dr. Jon Van Gerpen, this program has some of the best research information on Biodiesel available. From cold weather filtering to effects on pollution and diesel engines, these guys cover it all!

Utah Biodiesel Supply http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com
- Shameless plug for our website. We have several Biodiesel tutorials, articles on everything from Biodiesel ASTM Standards to Tax Incentives and just about everything in between. We also keep an active list of Biodiesel coops in the US as well. Plus, while you're there, be sure to check out some of our cool products we offer.

Want to to learn about more Biodiesel websites?
Be sure to visit our Biodiesel Web Links page on our site. We have website listings for just about every Biodiesel topic under the sun. The links are hand picked so they're sure to be packed with great information. Stop by & check them out! You just might learn something new!

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