SEDIMENTATION METHOD USED IN PURIFYING COOKING OIL

An Investigatory Project
Presented to
The Faculty of Sacred Heart of Jesus Montessori School
J.R. Borja Extension, Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City
In Partial Fulfilment
Of the Subject Science 10

By:
Kyleen Fabiana
Victoria G. Chung
 ABSTRACT

In our daily lives, oil, most specifically cooking oil, is used. It enables us to
successfully provide food for our family and the people around us.The purpose of this
research is to acquire and spread knowledge about the process of sedimentation and
its’ effectiveness in purifying used cooking oil. Multiple experiments and researches
were done to complete this paper. The first step we did was to research credible facts
about the materials needed for sedimentation like used cooking oil, activated carbon,
and soil clay. Then we proceeded to doing the experiment and observing it for the exact
time that is needed to complete the experiment. Observations were used as data to
finally come up with a conclusion.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction 1
Statement of the Problem 1
Null Hypothesis 1
Significance of the Study 2
Scope and Limitation 2

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 2
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY 3
Material 3
Procedure 3
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (ANALYSIS OF DATA) 4
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION 5
CHAPTER VI
RECOMMENDATION 5
BIBLIOGRAPHY 6
 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
Oil, according to Wikipedia, is any neutral, nonpolar chemical substance that is a
viscous liquid at ambient temperatures and is both hydrophobic and lipophilic Oils have
a high carbon and hydrogen content and are usually flammable and surface active.
They are something that we use in our daily lives as fuel for cars, engines, and more,
some may be for the purpose of taking care of the body, but most especially for
cooking. At least 80% of the food we it is cooked with the use of oil, not only at
restaurants but also at home. It is a necessity and is valuable for it is irreplaceable.
Most of the people who use oil in cooking throw it away after the first use. It is
impractical but most of the people would choose to throw it away rather than to reuse it
for it is easier and for the means of keeping things ‘healthy’. Gladly, there are people
who are more concerned towards what we waste than what concerns what most of the
people are concerned about. Various ways to reuse, filter, purify oil are now being
presented to the world, one of which is called sedimentation, which is the tendency for
particles in suspension to settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to
rest against a barrier. Many people do it and it has been proven to be effective. Thus,
sedimentation is a great way to purify oil.

Statement of the Problem

1.) What other components, materials or chemicals can effectively purify used
cooking oil?
Null Hypothesis
There is no significant difference between used oil and sedimented oil.
Significance of the Study
The purpose of this study is to give information and give benefit to the following
people:
1.) Restaurant owners – The recycling of cooking oil provides a form of revenue for
restaurants, which are sometimes compensated by cooking oil recyclers for their deep
fryer oil.
2.) Street food vendors – there will be less hassle for them in availing brand new oil plus
the price will be lighter on their part since the materials used are easy to find and cheap.
3.) Housewife – This study cannot only help restaurants save but also those who
consume oil at home, especially the person who is responsible for budgeting the money
and also does the cooking.
Scope and Limitation
The scope and limitation of this study is only until the experimenting and
observing how oil reacts to sedimentation.

CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
1. Cooking oil
Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other
types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat,
such salad dressing and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed
edible oil. (Wikipedia, 2018) Cooking oil consists of edible vegetable oils derived from
olives, peanuts, and safflowers, to name just a few of the many plants that are used.
Liquid at room temperature, cooking oils are sometimes added during the preparation of
processed foods. They are also used to fry foods and to make salad dressing.
(Unknown, 2018) It also has a lot of classifications and types; Coconut oil, sunflower oil,
olive oil, peanut oil, palm oil, corn oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, mustard oil, and more.
These oil types differ in their composition and where they are made of and how they are
made. (Unknown, 2018)
2. Clay Soil
Clay is a finely-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more
clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. (Wikipedia, 2018) Clay
has the smallest particle size of any soil type, with individual particles being so small
that they can only be viewed by an electron microscope. It contains very little organic
material; you often need to add amendments if you wish to grow plants in clay-heavy
soil. (Gerard, 2014) It can retain moisture well, and is more nutrient-rich that other soil
types. But it is slow draining, compacts easily, and has the tendency to be alkaline.
(Vanderlinden, 2017)
3. Activated Carbon
Activated Carbon is a carbonaceous, highly porous adsorptive medium that has
complex structure composed primarily of carbon atoms. The network of pores in
activated carbons is channels created within a rigid skeleton of disordered layers of
carbon atoms. (Haycarb, 2018) It can be made from many substances containing high
carbon content such as coal, coconut shells, and wood. The raw material has a very
large influence on the characteristics and performance of the activated carbon.
(Chemviron, 2016) It also had many uses such as whitening teeth, Alleviate gas, Treat
alcohol poisoning, mold cleansing, water filtration, and reduce high cholesterol. (Dr.
Axe, 2012)
 CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter shows the research methodology, specifically the materials and the
procedure done by the researchers.

Material

 80 ml used cooking oil

 1500 grams of clay soil
 15 g activated carbon
 5 filter paper disk
 5 jars
 Straw (for mixing purposes)
Procedure

 Every 20ml cooking oil was prepared in mayonnaise jars. Used oil and unused oil
were also prepared into mayonnaise jars.
 The three setups were then mixed with 40 g clay soil using a stirring rod.
 The mixtures were set aside until the suspended materials settled down.
 This procedure was done twice for Setup 2 and thrice for Setup 3.
 The settled clay was separated from the oil.
 5 g of activated carbon was added into the oil for 24 hours.
 After 24 hours, the oil was allowed to pass through a filter paper for the final
stage.
 The viscosity was tested. It was gathered using a medicine dropper and a
stopwatch.
 CHAPTER IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (ANALYSIS OF DATA)
This chapter provides the presentation of all the data gathered including its
interpretation based on the understanding of the researchers. This presentations’
purpose is to properly convey the answer regarding the project.

A B C
A. Findings

SETUP PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

A (Sedimentation was done once)
B (Sedimentation was done twice)
C (Sedimentation was done thrice)
Unused oil
Used oil
Golden brown; lesser particles
Lighter brown/yellow; least particles
Light yellow; no particles
Clear gold; no particles
Dark brown; many small particles

B. Analysis

The three sedimented cooking oil were filtered but the difference between the
three differs from how many times they were sedimented. The first one was sedimented
once, the second one was sedimented twice, while the last one was sedimented thrice.
But the appearance of the third one was clearer and has the least particle; we can
safely say that the third method works so much better than the first two.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION

This chapter provides the made by the researchers based on the data gathered and on
the said findings.

Conclusions
Sedimentation is effective. Based on the findings, from the three sedimented
cooking oil, the third one, with the most sedimentation process, was the cleanest and
almost alike to the unused oil. It had no particles and it had light yellow colour which is
closest to the appearance of the unused oil. The other two were also filtered and
sedimented but particles were still visible and the colours were more on brown rather
than yellow, which signifies that it is not as clean and purified compared to the third one.
Thus, sedimentation of is effective, but even more so if it is done at least three times.

CHAPTER VI
RECOMMENDATION

Recommendation
More tests to be done to the three setups aside from its viscosity and physical
appearance are recommended for future studies. Finding its melting point and
comparing it to the melting point of known cooking oil is the most recommended test.
Trying of other kinds of oil is also recommended. The researchers also recommend to
allot more time on the study in order to try using the purifies using oil samples in
cooking.
Bibliography

Gerard, A (2014) Properties of Clay soil. Retrieved 2014, from

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/properties-clay-soil-71840.html

Helmenstine, A (2018) What Is Activated Charcoal and How Does it Work? Retrieved
February 03, 2018, from
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryfaqs/f/charcoal.htm

Palomo, E (2016) What are the characteristics of clay soil? Retrieved 2016, from
http://www.ehow.com/list_6386349_characteristics-clay-soil_.html
Unknown (2015) ACTIVATED CHARCOAL: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions and
Warnings. Retrieved 2015, from
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-269-
ACTIVATED%20CHARCOAL.aspx?activeIngredientId=269&activeIngredientName=AC
TIVATED%20CHARCOAL

Unknown (2018) Cooking oil. Retrieved 2018, from

http://www.madehow.com/Volume-1/Cooking-Oil.html

Unknown. Different types of Cooking Oil. from

http://www.differencebetween.info/different-types-of-cooking-oil

Wikipedia (2018) Cooking oil. Retrieved February 15, 2018, from

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_oil

Dr. Axe, (2012) Top 10 Activated Charcoal Uses & Benefits. Retrieved 2012, from
https://draxe.com/activated-charcoal-uses/

Haycarb, (2018) Activated Carbon Basics. Retrieved 2018, from

http://www.haycarb.com/activated-carbon