Small-scale Test of the Reaction

I think it would be a good idea to perform a small-scale experiment of the reaction we're going to be performing with this reactor. I'm sure most of the data is readily available, but from a learning/experience standpoint, it'd be useful to find out how to optimize the reactor design before we go and buy all the stuff. It would be nice to know exactly what ratios we should be mixing the CH3OH and NaOH, as well as the concentration of NaOH, that would produce the ideal output. What effect does temperature play on the reaction equilibrium? Is there some byproduct that we can remove from the tank to speed up the process? We need to be able to tell if our process actually works, so it'd be nice to be able to determine the yield. I'm assuming, like all reactions, it's not a 100% conversion, in which case, how do we separate the products from the reactants/byproducts? If we run things too long, is that bad for yield? How pure does the product have to be to be useful? Lots of questions we need to be able to quantify, and the reactor/process design is going to depend on some of these answers. So here's what I propose: we get some of the cafeteria WVO, filter and dehydrate it, then start experimenting. I have access to methanol and strong base in the lab I work in (I'm assuming KOH would also suffice), but of course I'd need to clear any of that with the boss. Perhaps there is a professor that'd be willing to front us some chemicals until we get the funding through and are able to purchase our own resources.

Ty

a.k.a. Ty Matthews