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When I went to test drive the golf I bought the tank was almost completely empty (fuel guage said zero). I went back in and asked them to fill up the tank and they told be to just drive it since it gets ~45 mpg there's gotta be at least 20 mi. left in there. When I bought it I made them give...

I love the song!!! DO think you could post just the audio in mp3 or .wav format so I can burn a CD and let my car hear it. Would be great to blast that song when I am racing (and beating) my friends V8 jeep grand cherokee!!!

DOn't worry I'm not really gonna do it! I am just wondering how to get the radio out of my 2004 TDI with the monsoon sound system. I manufactured some "keys" that you slip into the slots in each of the 4 corners of the radio. The radio still wouldn't budge. By the way, Santa was good to my...

Since anhydrous alcohols are vastly more expensive than regular alcohols, why does everyone insist on buying anhydrous alcohols. From reading another post, I have discovered that molecular seives/dessicants will remove the water from alcohol ( or the entire reaction mixture). Plus they can be...

Re: two-step synthesis / molecular filters I see now. I was thinking it was more like a reverse osmosis type deal. Couldn't you just use a normal dessicant then? Why not just get a lot of anhydrous sodium sulfate and use that? After it's used up, just throw it in a really hot oven. Is it a...

Well, esterification reactions can be either base or acid catalyzed. Still doesn't make sense to wash with water ( especially under acidic conditions)

WOW! That seems like quite a project! Very ambitious of you.

Naturists, there is never enough info!!! . WHy should the prescence of water be any more detrimental to the ethanol method than the methanol method? Seems to me like there is not any difference in the process, just substituting one alcohol for another.

Re: two-step synthesis / molecular filters King has a good point. I don't know much about seives, but what kind of pressures are needed to attain a reasonable flow? Is this system meant to only extract very small quantities of water? How specific is the seive? Methanol/methoxide too big to...

Sorry to sound stupid, but what does FSI mean?

thanks, I am glad I finally found someone here who I can talk shop with (I am a chem/biochem double major. If you've got any other tricks of the trade, let me know.

I've heard that some people opt fr a two stage synthesis in which the triglyceride is first saponified (yeilding FFA)then esterified (yeilding the ester). Since esterification of FFA yeild water as a product, how do people remove the water to drive the reaction forward?

What is blowby? I hear about it all the time but i'm not sure what it is. Has anyone considered filtering the EGR to solve the clogging issue? It seems that might be the better route considering the fact that it will eliminate particulate matter from entering the cylinder (reduced wear?). It...

You can test pH in any type of solution (with any solvent), but you may have to find another pH test method (indicator you are using may not work in a particular solvent). You cannot put the fuel in water to test pH cause the water will attack the ester yeilding FFA and therefore giving you an...

ofhs93, How can water STOP the reaction? Adding water will just attack your ester and form FFA and alcohol. You won't be actually using that much alcohol in the washing process since the alcohol can be reclaimed by distillation. Wally's method seems to make more sense chemically.

I understand that water is considered undesireable in the alcohol because of FFA production if water is able to hydrolizes the triglyceride ester linkage, but if you wash the bioD with water after the esterification, the water will attack the bioD and form some FFA anyway. You might get a...

Why is water used as the washing agent? It seems that the water only introduces the complications of soap production and forcing the esterification reaction in the wrong direction (a la Le Chatlier). Why not try using a lot of alcohol to wash the biodiesel? This would eliminate the...

Why doesn't anyone make biodiesel with ethanol to form an ethyl ester? I would think that the difference would not significantly alter the combustion and physical properties of the diesel. Furthermore, ethanol is a renewable resource that can be generated by fermentation. It is also probably...

Hey does anyone know where I can find the procedures for the ATSM (sp?) biodiesel quality testing standards. I found out what the tests were (the web page gave me info like "this result was determined using ATSM 0969"). I just need to find out the procedures for the ATSM tests. I am a...

I'd ask him what he was waiting for. America needs performance diesels!!!! I want a diesel R32!