Sofia Ford 
The Effect of Impurities on the Calorific Value of Biodiesel 

Profile 
My name is Sofia Ford, I am 16, a junior at Niles North High School, and this is my first 
year taking the SIRS class. Over the course of this year, I focused on multiple ways to 
make biodiesel more economically and environmentally viable, then settled specifically 
on the effects that impurities have on calorific value, a chemical property of biodiesel. 
 

Experience 
The SIRS class is a course with the aim of allowing students to become 
independent and develop their research skills through various methods of 
experimentation. It is a space in which innovation and the development of your 
individual ideas are encouraged and there is never a shortage of people to 
pose questions to. My research this year focused on the effects that methanol, 
potassium hydroxide, water, and crude glycerol had on the calorific value of 
biodiesel, an important chemical property in determining the efficacy of a fuel.  
 

Education 
Niles North High School 
● Honors Biology 
● Honors Chemistry 
● AP Computer Science 
● AP Physics 
● SIRS 

Global Citizenship Experience Lab School 

● Front-End Design and Coding 
 

Skills 
Writing a Research Paper:​ Through this class, I learned how to write a 
research paper from start to finish and how to incorporate scientific ideas 
and data into a written format. Through writing my Review of Literature I was  
 
 
 
 

able to better focus on the specific details and topics that I would later need in 
experimentation. By writing a full research paper, I learned all the integral 
components that are required for a scientific paper. 
Time Management: ​Due to the independent nature of the SIRS class, time 
management is an important skill that I developed over the course of my time 
in the class. Though there are deadlines and occasional check ins, it is up to 
the researcher themselves to regulate the pace at which they complete the 
work. In SIRS I was able regulate the time frame over which I experimented, 
collected and analyzed data, and wrote up the information, allowing me to 
develop time management skills that I have been able to apply to other parts 
of my life. 
Separating Homogeneous Mixtures:​ In my project, I had to create my own 
biodiesel, which meant I had to separate a homogeneous mixture of crude 
glycerol and biodiesel to make both parts usable. To separate these materials 
I first put the mixture into a separatory funnel, which I then inverted two to 
three times to allow the mixtures of different densities to separate. The mixture 
was then able to cleave and the stop-cock could be opened to separate the 
crude glycerol from the biodiesel. 
Using a Bomb Calorimeter: ​For the first few weeks of the experimentation 
period, the bomb calorimeter was not working. Through the process of fixing it 
with my peers and teachers, I gained a thorough knowledge of how the bomb 
calorimeter operates, and the process of troubleshooting allowed me to gain a 
greater understanding of the intricacies of the technology within the bomb 
calorimeter. 
Creating a Procedure:​ As this is my first year in SIRS, I had never before 
developed a new procedure for an experiment. During my research about my 
topic I looked at the results as well as the procedures used by the scientists; 
this allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the specific components 
that I would need to incorporate into my own procedure.  
 

Awards 
Gold Award at IJAS Regional Science Fair 
2020 Yale Science Award for Most Outstanding Exhibit in Computer Science, 
Engineering, Physics, or Chemistry 
Hoylande Young Failey Award for Excellence on a Science Fair Project, from 
the National Honor Society for Women in Chemistry 
 

References 
Christine Camel 
Niles North High School SIRS Instructor 
chrcam@d219.org