Making the biodiesel itself wasn't as difficult as some of our other labs. The process of transesterification was quite simple really. We started with the waste oil (from Chick-Fil-A) and added a base of KOH. Then we heated and stirred the solution so the reaction would occur. The reaction yielded biodiesel (methyl esters) and glycerol. We will be testing the purity of the biodiesel and then using the biodiesel that we created to race putt putt boats.
The lab was certainly a whole lot easier than most labs! However this had to be the smelliest lab of them all! It was cool to actually make a fuel that a car could run on though! I mean it takes roughly 50mins to save the environment! That's cool in opinion!
ReplyDeleteMaking the biodiesel was both fun and disgusting at the same time. Recycling the spent oil was a nice touch but it was still pretty greasy.
ReplyDeleteMaking the biodiesel was both fun and disgusting at the same time. Recycling the spent oil was a nice touch but it was still pretty greasy.
ReplyDelete