Locations for Methanol, NaOH or KOH, By State

Schwrtz27

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2005
Location
Atlanta, GA
TDI
2004 Jetta Pd
I'd like this thread to start a list of all Methanol and NaOH and KOH distributors in the United States.

Please list as follows:

State of Location:
What are they selling:

Company Name and Address:
Qty and Price:

Hopefully we can start a nice long list of places to purchase these ingredients for Bio Diesel! Please contribute if you know of any!!!
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
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Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
I know that in Ontario, you can get methanol from Ontario Competition Fuels, a race fuel distribution company. In other areas, it's probably equally possible to get methanol from other race-fuel suppliers.
 

Whitbread

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Jan 21, 2007
Location
Johannesburg, MI
TDI
Several
I bought my drum of meth back in nov so I don't know how good the price still is. The local Menards has 100% lye drain cleaner in a 1 pound container. I'm going to break down and buy a 50 lb bag of KOH soon though. Supposedly there's some place just outside of Columbus that will ship it for a decent price. I'll post up info when I find it.


State of Location: Ohio
What are they selling: Methanol

Company Name and Address: Fincel Oil and Supply, Piqua Ohio
Qty and Price: 55 gal drum, $180


State of Location: Ohio
What are they selling: Lye

Company Name and Address: Menards of Lima Ohio
Qty and Price: 1lb container for $3.25
 
Joined
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Location
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If I ever start my own reactor, I would order ACS grade reagents from a chemical manufacture. These are about 3x more expensive though, but if you are wondering...

vwr.com (approx cost methanol = $450/55gal drum, NaOH = $550/50Kg, KOH = $800/50Kg)
or any big chemical distributor

But with better reagents, you use less at a go... Your reactions will be closer to 97% instead of the typical 70-80% with industrial (water saturated) lye. And 99% instead of the typical 50% industrial methanol.

In all cases, keep your chemicals well sealed and they will last longer, preform better, add less water, and recover more (and better) biodiesel.
 

fruitcakesa

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Location
Vermont
TDI
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I have bought methanol from a local chemical supplier that is listed in the MSDS as 99.98% pure for $220 for 55 gals + drum charge in Mendon VT. $62 for pelletized NaOH.
 

pfiermka

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Location
Monroe, Ohio
TDI
2002 Black TDI
I am looking for a source for methanol in the cincinnati and dayton area.
Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
 

VeeDubs

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2005
Location
Nevada
TDI
2005 Passat TDI Sedan
Try drilling fluids companies

For many years I've been supervising drills (mineral and water well exploration) and we commonly use KOH (called "caustic potash") and NaOH as fluid additives.

From miswaco.com website:
"Caustic potash is the common name for potassium hydroxide (KOH). It is sometimes used for pH stability and as an inhibitor for swelling shales. It is a strong base that is extremely soluble in water and dissociates into potassium (K+) and hydroxyl (OH‐) ions in solution."

Two companies that sell 50 lb bags of each:
miswaco.com
and Baroid Industrial Products.

Here in Nevada there is an MI-Swaco dealer in Carlin. You guys in the midwest in oil field country are in luck as well. Just look up "Drilling and boring fluids" or the like, call and see if they will sell to walk in customers.

Be careful - always add the powder to the water, not the reverse!

VeeDubs
 

quantum_tdi

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Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
R320 CDI, '96 B4V (for sale)
Being overly cautious

So aside from blatant speculation would you like to back that statement about making better biodiesel with these lab grade reagents up with some empirical evidence? Paying $450 for 55 gal methanol ($8.18/gal!!) and then opening the drum to transfer a little out to make methoxide will quickly turn it into basically the same quality methanol you'll pick up as racing fuel, etc. Same goes for your KOH or NaOH. Where are you getting the numbers on your "industrial" reagents? Methanol (the largest expense in making biodiesel) from a reputable supplier can be had for much less at a much higher quality than you're suggesting.

If you're interested in paying too much for your biodiesel reactants, go this route...

Psychotic_Wanderer said:
If I ever start my own reactor, I would order ACS grade reagents from a chemical manufacture. These are about 3x more expensive though, but if you are wondering...

vwr.com (approx cost methanol = $450/55gal drum, NaOH = $550/50Kg, KOH = $800/50Kg)
or any big chemical distributor

But with better reagents, you use less at a go... Your reactions will be closer to 97% instead of the typical 70-80% with industrial (water saturated) lye. And 99% instead of the typical 50% industrial methanol.

In all cases, keep your chemicals well sealed and they will last longer, preform better, add less water, and recover more (and better) biodiesel.
 

nicklockard

Torque Dorque
Joined
Aug 15, 2004
Location
Arizona
TDI
SOLD 2010 Touareg Tdi w/factory Tow PCKG
You can dehydrate technical grade methanol with 3A zeolite probably cheaper than you can buy ACS reagent grade methanol.

Add: Parr Chemicals in Portland, OR
 
Last edited:
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quantum_tdi said:
So aside from blatant speculation would you like to back that statement about making better biodiesel with these lab grade reagents up with some empirical evidence? Paying $450 for 55 gal methanol ($8.18/gal!!) and then opening the drum to transfer a little out to make methoxide will quickly turn it into basically the same quality methanol you'll pick up as racing fuel, etc. Same goes for your KOH or NaOH. Where are you getting the numbers on your "industrial" reagents? Methanol (the largest expense in making biodiesel) from a reputable supplier can be had for much less at a much higher quality than you're suggesting.

If you're interested in paying too much for your biodiesel reactants, go this route...
As they say... arguing on the internet gets no one anywhere... Im not going to convince anyone else to use anything I use. No point.

The OP asked where you get your reagents... I offered up a source that I trust.

As I said in first sentance... I dont have a reactor yet, so I will most likely shop around for ACS report grade reagents. I will be overly cautious as to what I put in my tank as many threads around here point out that you should be overly concerned with what goes in your car. I know from my industry experience which manufacturers offer up reports on their chemicals. I wouldnt use any chemical that didnt come with a report. End of story.

I wouldnt call what I said "blatant speculation" as Ive seen reg reports on processing chemicals in bulk plants from my experience in the mining, milling, and currently, biotech industry. I wouldnt expect anyone to take my word for it, so don't. Also, it's elementary chemistry that impurities retard your chemical reactions. Apparently Im not allowed to make that assumption, so I wont.

Im not suggesting anyone do what I do. It's expensive and it's probably "not needed".

Hopefully this is a good enough disclaimer.
 

quantum_tdi

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Joined
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Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
R320 CDI, '96 B4V (for sale)
Sorry if the last comment was flippant- your suggestion just didn't make much sense to me particularly combined with your stated lack of experience making biodiesel.

You're welcome to make assumptions all you want, but many folks' experience (including my own) has shown basic fuel supplier methanol works fine for the transesterification process. I do suggest you get to know whatever supplier you use and confirm where they're getting their supplies.

You make the claim that one uses less at a go, but the entire process is driven by an abundance of methanol. 2 stage base process will help increase yield and decrease the amount of reagents necessary- as you say it is elementary chemistry- more than efforts to find the purest reagents in my opinion. Use of a reagent grade methanol will not appreciably decrease the amount of pollutants during the reaction as you'll be bringing in a boatload of them with your oil anyway.

While I do appreciate the desire to go with the purest reagents, the reality of what we're working with as a feedstock (assuming you're not buying fresh, purified oil) far outstrips any of our efforts at pure reagents. And you're certainly not getting a chemical report on waste oil.

Now if you're getting methanol with 10% or more water in it then you'll run into problems, but if you're so concerned about purity I'm sure you have a hydrometer around to test (particularly if you plan on recovering methanol) and can reject the low quality methanol should you get it from a supplier that isn't shady. Fuel suppliers would get hung by the rafters if they were supplying 50% methanol as racing fuel.

I would suggest test, test, test to see what you're putting in your tank. The elementary quality tests repeated on every batch will help raise your confidence in both your skill at making fuel and the reagents you can get on the cheap. I certainly agree with your caution in dumping experimental fuel in your car. I was both giddy and horrified when I first did it.;)
 
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