BioDieselNow - Renewable biodiesel fuel

Hi all, we've just made our first 90litre test batch to prove our processor and I need some help identifying some Unidentified Floating Scum. After processing for about an hour we let settle for about 24hrs then through to the wash tank where we pushed about 300 litres of water through it in 3 seperate washes (the last wash water was still cloudy but not brown), and then back into the reactor vessel for drying. On pulling a sample we've noticed a thin scum layer on top which has a sticky/greasy consistancy - is this soap should we have washed for longer?

Also on doing the 3/27 test we got a fair amount of fallout, is there anything I can do to this batch to improve the quality?

Sounds like soap. Describe your process in detail! Useing 300 liters of water on a 90 liter batch is way too much water useage. regards, Joe.D

A picture would be helpful.  If you get significant dropout with the 3/27, that is indicative of an incomplete reaction.  1 hour of processing may not be enough, especially if your temperature is not high enough - I process for a minimum of 90 minutes and my starting temperature is almost 150F, dropping to 130F at the end.  Addtionally you may not have enough lye or methanol -- please give more details...what did your oil titrate, what is your catalyst and how much did you use, how much methanol did you use, and what was your processing temperature?