Dry Washing Biodiesel with Magnesol

The Dallas Group produces synthetic magnesium silicate for use as a waterless wash for making biodiesel and brands it Magnesol D60. Synthetic magnesium silicate has been used for some time in restaurants as an extender for vegetable oil. In the restaurant the oil is passed through a tub of magnesium silicate and then finely filtered. The drywash process removes the particulate matter and reduces the FFA content of the oil.

To clean biodiesel, you mix the magnesol with the biodiesel which absorbs the soaps and other contaminates then you use settling and filtering to remove the magnesol. The process works with or without removing the methanol first. However, if the methanol is removed first, it will take much less magnesium silicate to perform the task.

One of the reoccurring arguments against using magnesol is that it will leave fine abrasive particles behind in the fuel that can clog filters or damage fuel systems. If not properly filtered this can be the case. However if properly settled and filtered, any particles that remain behind will be too small to have any effect. The advantage of magnesol is that it cleans biodiesel without using any water.

Magnesol will reduce the acid levels in finished biodiesel. Bubble washing, active drying, and ION exchange resins will all increase the acid number of finished biodiesel. Magnesol has been sucessfully used to clean up old acidic biodiesel into fresh new biodiesel that passed ASTM specs. There is some debate as to if it can reduce the titration numbers on new oils. More testing needs to be done to find out for sure. Magnesol will also bleach out the biodiesel, removing color pigments making the fuel a lighter color and removing ordors.

With the increasing popularity of homebrew, it will become increasingly difficult to obtain low titration feedstock oils. Lower quality oil usually means a shift over to KOH as a catalyst. Magnesol offers a low cost, low energy method of removing the soaps from biodiesel when using KOH as a catalyst when used in conjunction with forced evaporation of the methanol.

When using magnesol, it becomes much easier to filter if the biodiesel containing the magnesol is allowed to settle for an extended period. The longer the settling time, the more magnesol will settle to the bottom and not need to be filtered.

Experience has shown that Magnesol is more effective and quicker at removing soaps when the biodiesel is warm.

The Dallas Group recommends using 1% by weight (of the biodiesel) for every 1000ppm of soap in the biodiesel. Use this test procedure to determine your soap levels in ppm.

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