breaking emulsification oil/water

[SHIP4BRAINS]

I scored 40 gal of hyd oil this past weekend from work. I hauled it home and was just about to dump it in my bulk tank when I noticed it was definately "wet"....milky looking mess. #hit. I took a pint sample and stuck it in a glass gar and microwaved the hell out of it, getting it up to 265F....and watched it boil. Then filtered through several paper towels...the result was a nice light amber/clear colored product with a good amount of sludge left in the bottom of the jar.

Looking at the plastic drum of mixed mess this morning....the bottom 20% of the barrel is definatley "white"....you can see through the plastic to some extent. It appears to be seperating to somewhat. The oil up top still looks like a milk shake. I took a second sample in a jar when I nuked the first sample. It is sitting in my garage and not really seperating at all.

I recall one of the WVO/BIO sites talking about breaking emulsifications by adding MORE water to the mix...mixing it and letting it settle.

Will this work or did I not understand? Any other ideas? Maybe I'll be hauling this batch back to work and saying "heck with it"....

I also considered setting up a dryer like the wvo guys are using....

 

[SHIP4BRAINS]

http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/breakingemulsions/

Not quite what I THOUGHT it was....

 

[Reefdiver72]

heet works pretty good for some of it skim off the good then do it again till you get the water out unless you get a turkey fryer and just heat it up slowly just be careful.

 

[subway]

i am not sure what to do here but please let use know if you get a methode worked out in case some others here run into this.

 

[obinella]

cheapest way would be to stash it behind the garage and forget about it till next winter. the water will freeze and you can pour off the oil.

 

[72f2504x4390]

I am in the same boat. 55 gallons of irish cream. Mine seems to be seperating but very slowly. I won't need it for at least a few more months so I am going to try to just let it seperate on its own. I have a jar of it that has cleared up on the top half in about 3 weeks.

 

[72f2504x4390]

Last night I threw a gallon in a pot and put it on top of my wood stove. Boiled it. It was at 240 when I pulled it off. There was still some water left, but it was seperated.

 

[Reefdiver72]

Ugh I have the same problem exept mine got pumped into my Reartank By accident So now I have to drain It I am thinking about a pit **** on my tank to drain the water when this happens.

 

[SHIP4BRAINS]

I played with some methanol....Mixed the oil/water mess mixture with about 5% alcohol and shook the pizz out of it and let it sit. The nasty did settle to the bottom overnight leaving pretty clear oil. I haven't tried it in a large scale. I bought a few bottoles of cheap rubbing alcohol (92%) ....gonna try that.

 

[SHIP4BRAINS]

Heat is the simple way to do it. I pulled out the turkey fryer and heated 4 gallons up to 230 or so and let it sit over night to cool....the result was very clear...the cloudy look was gone. I guess I'll be looking for a used electric water heater

 

[72f2504x4390]

Yea thats what I did too. Just heated mine on my woodstove in the shop. About 4 gallons at a time. I just kept cooking till it quit boiling, assuring all the water was gone, not just seperated. Then dumped it hot right in my storage tank.