Bio From Virgin Canola OilBio from Waste Soybean Oil

Things to remember Heat oil to about F. You can use a hot plate or microwave (about 2 ½ minutes. Wear eye protection and gloves. Making biodiesel requires patience to let the mixtures set and separate out.

If a students is too aggressive is shaking the biodiesel in the washing process, and emulsion could occur. Notice on top, the biodiesel is beginning to separate. Reheating the mixture (after draining water) can break the emulsion.

Time Line for Making Biodiesel in a Lab Setting Have students collect two 2 liter coke jugs Wash out the jugs and allow to dry – no water in the jugs! Day one: Heat up a liter of so of the oil and have each student titrate the oil. You can also do this in pairs, depending on class size. Complete the titration worksheet.

Have on had a few mason jars or mayonnaise jars (glass jars with sealable lids) Have students pour 225 ml of methanol into the jar. Measure correct amount of NaOH on triple beam scales. Add the NaOH and swirl gently (heat is generated as this is a exothermic reaction- hey- this correlates with chemistry frameworks!!!) These activities may take one or two days depending on class size.

Start a New Day Here Have students heat their oil to 130 f. Use a funnel and add the methoxide to the jug. Shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Shake vigorously again every 10 minutes or so. During the last 15 minutes of class, have the students add 50 ml of warm water to the mixture. Shake with medium force and store the jug in a safe place so the it can settle until the next day. DO NOT FORGET TO USE EYE PROTECTION AND GLOVES

Next Day Have students drain off glycerin layer. Add about 300 ml of hot water to the jug. Shake medium for about 30 seconds and let settle for about thirty minutes. Drain the soapy water. Repeat the steps above. When the water remains clear after shaking, all soap has been removed.

Next Day Use a fish tank bubbler to bubble dry (remove remaining suspended water) the biodiesel. The biodiesel can also be placed outside in the sunlight or in the greenhouse to dry. The hazy appearance of the biodiesel at this point is due to tiny droplets of water. washedbiodiesel/

All the information you need to set this up can be found at

Appleseed Processor Setup

This setup is referred to as an Appleseed Processor. It is simply a water heater with a circulating exterior pump. The drain at the bottom feeds the intake of the pump. The liquid is then pumped back to the top and re-circulated.

For educational purposes, you can connect an amp meter and have the students calculate the time it takes to heat up the oil. Using W= VA, they can calculate the amount of Kwh needed to heat the oil, then calculate the cost of electricity. A good differentiation project for GT kids.

35 Gallon Washing/Drying Tank

A water hose can be connected to drain off water or a short hose can be connected to drain biodiesel to a 5 gallon bucket. You can also connect a transfer pump. The clear tubing is used to determine the end of water or glycerine and the beginning of biodiesel.

Other Related Information A bushel of soybeans produces appr. 1.4 gallons of oil If a person averaged using 40 gallons of diesel fuel per month, it would take 14 acres to grow the beans necessary to produce the oil (25 bushel yld, 342 bushels) My family of 4 uses about 1700 kwh of electricity a month. Burning biodiesel in a generator to produce that amount would take 1632 gallons/year (46 acres of 25 bu. beans, 1165 bu). Data shows that a diesel powered generator uses.08 gallons per kwh