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Synthesis of Biodiesel
Abstract
With the growing effects of gasoline prices, the need for an alternative fuel source
is quite obvious. As gas prices continue to be on the rise in upwards of over three dollars
per gallon, alternative fuel sources are becoming increasingly popular in today’s society.
In the year 2000, there were about eight million vehicles around the world that ran on
(Filz). In 2001, the first two public filling stations offering biodiesel were opened in San
Francisco, CA, and Sparks, NV (Filz). The importance of learning about alternative fuel
sources is useful knowledge in today’s society. By having the students conduct the
synthesis of biodiesel in a high school lab setting, hopefully the awareness will increase.
catalyst are added to the oil and converts the esters to those of the corresponding alcohol.
O
O
R1 C O CH3
H2C O C R1 H2C OH
O O +
cat. base
HC O C R2 R2 C O CH3 + HC OH
O 3 MeOH
H2C O C R3 O + H2C OH
R3 C O CH3
vegetable oil glycerol
triglyceride methyl esters of
fatty acids
The alcohol becomes deprotonated by the base, which in turn makes it a better
nucleophile. The nucleophile then attacks the carbon-oxygen double bond and creates a
pair of electrons on the oxygen that was originally double bonded to the carbon. The
alcohol becomes attached to the carbon. The electrons come back to the carbon and the
glycol gets kicked off, which in turn forms the ester. The alcohols attack the other two
carbon-oxygen double bonds and the same process occurs, with three ethyl esters being
formed and the glycerol getting kicked off and creating a by-product each time (biodiesel
production).
There are many techniques for creating biodiesel, but most, if not all, of the ones
that have been discussed were meant to produce a large quantity of biodiesel. With
budget concerns, as well as space and storage concerns, most of these methods were not
feasible. The goal in doing this research project was to find a way to teach kids why
finding an alternative fuel source is so important, as well as teaching some other basic
Introduction
The first thing that needed to be done when deciding on a procedure was what oil
should be used. After looking at prices at a supermarket, the choice was narrowed down
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to three oils: vegetable oil (sun-flower oil), canola oil, or corn oil. Research was done on
all of the oils. The information that was found indicated that canola oil comes from the
rapeseed plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants. The rape oil, as it is
sometimes called, was used in mustard gas during WWI. Mustard gas is an extremely
dangerous gas, which causes blistering of the lungs and skin (Graham). It has also been
shown to cause lung cancer, according to the Wall Street Journal. After hearing about the
possibility of having these bad effects happen to students, canola oil was ruled out and all
the attention became focused on sun-flower and corn oil. The assumption is that both
The next problem presented itself in dealing with the catalyst, NaOH. NaOH in
the solid form is very caustic, which means it could eat the fingerprints off of the
students’ hands. Because of this, the decision was made to use extreme caution when
dealing with NaOH and make up a mixture of the NaOH/methanol mixture beforehand.
It should be noted that NaOH is a deliquescent, which means it readily takes moisture
from the air through absorption. Consequently, the concentrated NaOH should be kept in
Problems kept arising when mixing NaOH and methanol. As soon as it was
mixed with the sun-flower oil, a soapy emulsion would begin forming. This meant that
too much NaOH was in the solution. The decision came to contact some “biodiesel
experts” by asking them the question of what ratio of NaOH: methanol should be used.
This was done by joining a group on the Internet for fanatics of biodiesel, some of which
included professors with PhD’s (Gian). Their instructions were to figure out how much
vegetable oil was going to be needed. If an estimated 30 kids in a high school classroom
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were working in pairs, 15 separate measurements of oil would be needed. The decision
was made to use 20 mL of sun-flower oil, which came out to 300 mL of sun-flower oil
total. They said a good number to use was either 4 or 5 g/L of a NaOH:sun-flower oil
ratio. Both trials were done and the 5 g/L turned out to be a better ratio than the 4 g/L.
Next, the instructions were that normally one should use a ratio of 20% by volume of
methanol to the total volume of vegetable oil. This meant that a solution of 60 mL of
methanol with 1.5 g NaOH would be mixed up. This turned out to be the framework for
the experiment.
The final problem that was encountered when designing this experiment was how
long to let the biodiesel and glycerol sit in between washings. In order to be sure that the
washing has run its complete course, it was found that one needed to wait about 2 days.
Since it is designed for a Chemistry classroom that meets every day, the suggestion is that
students wait two days between each washing. One day was tried, but the solutions
weren’t transparent, which indicates completion (Leray). The biodiesel needs to be clear
enough to see through and not be a cloudy mixture, which is why two days is sufficient.
After sifting through all these problems, a procedure was developed that makes a
quality amount and gives the desired product. The following experiment should be able
to be used in a high school lab and if followed with precision, a successful synthesis of
Procedure
1. To prepare for the experiment, the teacher needs to mix up the mixture of
methanol and NaOH before class. The amount that was found to work best is
to use 5 g of NaOH per mL of total vegetable oil used in the experiment. The
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use about 20% volume of methanol of the total volume of vegetable oil. For
example, if you have 15 groups, you will have a total of 300 mL of vegetable
oil and will use 60 mL of methanol. To achieve 5 g/mL of NaOH, you would
2. When students arrive in the classroom, make sure all safety procedures are
3. When the students arrive, they need to pour out 4 mL of the methanol/NaOH
5. After the NaOH/methanol solution and vegetable oil has been measured out
6. To make sure the reaction is taking place, put a rubber stopper in the end of
8. After 2 days, the students should notice two distinct layers. The bottom layer
is glycerol and other by-products. The top layer (much more of the solution)
is the biodiesel and needs to be pipeted off. To get the biodiesel off the top,
pipet it into a clean test tube, being careful not to pull any of the glycerol with
it.
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9. With the biodiesel in the clean test tube, you want to wash it now. Add about
5.0 mL of water to the biodiesel and SLOWLY invert the test tube to mix the
water and biodiesel. (Note to teacher: Make sure students are inverting the
10. Allow the washing to sit for two days and pipet the biodiesel (top layer) from
the bottom layer (water). Transfer the biodiesel into a clean test tube and
proceed with step 9. Do the washing process 4-5 times, allowing two days to
11. After the biodiesel has been washed, the next step is to find the density.
Weigh a graduated cylinder and then zero the scale. Pour the biodiesel into
the graduated cylinder and record the volume. Then place the graduated
cylinder on the scale and find the mass. Divide the mass by the volume, and
12. The first part of the experiment is now complete. The biodiesel needs to be
stored in a test tube and covered with a rubber stopper until needed.
13. The second part of the experiment involves seeing how well the fuel actually
works. First, get a pop can (any flavor will work, choose a favorite) and cut
14. Next, cut out two holes on opposites sides of each other at the top of the can
so that a glass rod can be inserted to hold up the can on a ring stand.
15. The next part of the experiment involves creating a fuel burner. The
suggested way to do this is to use a dropper bottle. Take the top of the
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dropper bottle off and put insulation or glass wool into the dropper, leaving
16. Pipet the biodiesel that you have just finished creating into the dropper tubing
and let the insulation soak it up inside the tube. Pour the remaining biodiesel
in the bottom of the dropper bottle. Weigh the mass of the burner initially and
17. Now, it’s time to take the initial mass of the can without anything in it and
18. Add roughly 100 mL of water to the pop can and record the new mass.
Subtract the initial mass from the final mass to figure out the mass of the
water.
19. Set up the pop can on a ring stand, having the glass rod hold up the pop can.
Place the fuel burner directly underneath the pop can. Record the initial
temperature of the water onto your datasheet. Keep a thermometer in the pop
20. Light the wick on your fuel burner using a Bunsen burner. Keep the flame a
few inches from bottom of the pop can. Keep a careful eye on the
temperature. Let the temperature increase about 20oC and then blow out the
21. The next step needs to be done fairly quickly. As soon as the flame has been
extinguished, the mass of the fuel burner needs to be recorded. To find the
mass of the fuel burned, (in grams) subtract the initial mass of the burner from
22. Clean up the rest of the lab and return all equipment to its proper place.
23. To find the total heat absorbed by the water in calories, a simple calculation
will occur. Take your mass of water (grams) and multiply it by the change in
temperature of the water (oC). This number is then multiplied by the specific
heat of water, which is 1.00 cal/g* oC. This will leave you an answer in
calories.
24. To find the heat per gram of fuel, take the calories that you just found in the
previous step and divide it by the mass of your fuel burned. This will give
Data Section
Volume of Sun-
Trial Number Mass of NaOH Volume of Methanol
flower Oil
1
2
3
In these trials, there wasn’t much separation, leaving hardly any layers of
biodiesel. This meant that the solutions probably weren’t mixed vigorously enough.
Using a 3:1 mol ratio of methanol to sun-flower oil obviously didn’t work out.
Increasing the volumes of the methanol and sun-flower oil and using a soda pop
bottle to store the solutions was another thought. However, after thinking it through, it
would be difficult to pipet the biodiesel out to wash it. In these trials, there was enough
biodiesel to extract to proceed on. After the first washing, though, an emulsion was
created instantly, thus proving that the ratios were not correct in the beginning. The
The next idea that occurred was to mix up the NaOH and methanol in a big batch
and go from there. Some research was done and found that the best ratio to use was 5 g/L
of NaOH:total volume of vegetable oil. The amount of methanol that should be added to
the NaOH is 20% of the total volume of vegetable oil. 300 mL of vegetable oil ( 20 mL
For all of the following trials, this is the methanol/NaOH mixture that was used.
Volume of NaOH/Methanol
Trial Number Volume of Sun-flower Oil
Mixture
7
8
9
Each solution was allowed to sit for two days. After two days, they were washed
with 5.0 mL of water. Then, they would sit for another two days between each washing.
Five washings were done. When pouring off the water biodiesel into a clean test tube,
not as much biodiesel was extracted as could have been. This provided not quite as good
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of results, as only the first trial were the only results. The mass, volume, and density
While doing research on biodiesel, the density was found to be .903 g/mL
(Sarma). The density of sun-flower oil was also figured out to be .8054 g/mL, so
obviously some form of reaction took place. Some more trials were needed to verify the
Again, two days and then the first washing took place. Two days took place
between each washing. After the second washing, trial #11 was not as clear as the others
so the results might not be as accurate on this particular trial. After the final washing, the
densities of the solutions proved my hypothesis correct. Trial #11’s density was a lot
Since all of these densities were pretty close to each other, the total heat absorbed
in calories and also the heat of gram per fuel was found.
Trial Number 7 10 12
Mass of Can + Water
Mass of Empty Can
Mass of Water
Final Temp of Water
Initial Temp of Water
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Temp Change
Initial Mass of Burner
Final Mass of Burner
Mass of Fuel Burned
Total Heat Absorbed
Heat per gram of Fuel
In order to prove that the results were not just pure luck, three more trials using
sun-flower oil were done. To see if other oils had the same effect as vegetable oil, corn
The standard two-day waiting period was used after mixture and between
Even with corn oil, the same waiting period between each mixing and washing
was used.
After all the washings were completed, these were the densities that were
17
18
Reminder: Trials # 13-15 were with sun-flower oil and trials # 16-18 were with
corn oil.
The next step was to test all of the trials by finding the total heat absorbed and
Trial Number 13 14 15
Mass of Can + Water
Mass of Empty Can
Mass of Water
Final Temp of Water
Initial Temp of Water
Temp Change
Initial Mass of Burner
Final Mass of Burner
Mass of Fuel Burned
Total Heat Absorbed
Heat per gram of Fuel
Trial Number 16 17 18
Mass of Can + Water
Mass of Empty Can
Mass of Water
Final Temp of Water
Initial Temp of Water
Temp Change
Initial Mass of Burner
Final Mass of Burner
Mass of Fuel Burned
Total Heat Absorbed
Heat per gram of Fuel
Results
14
15
16
17
18
Average
This is the average of all the trials added together and divided by 9. The next
table will look at individual variances and percent error within each trial.
Percent Error
Percent Error Variance Heat
Trial Number Variance Density Heat per gram
Density per gram of fuel
of fuel
7
10
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Discussion of Results
After looking at the results, the densities for all trials were very precise. The
range was .009 g/mL. They were all right around the same area. They were also
accurate, as the density of biodiesel ranges from .900 g/mL to .930 g/mL. All of the trials
were within this range. When calculating the results of percent error of the heat per gram
of fuel, the percent errors were a little higher, but still fairly precise. The greatest percent
error was -7.05 %, while the lowest was 1.17 %. There was also a direct correlation
between the mass of fuel burned and the temperature change. The more the temperature
changed meant more fuel (in terms of mass) was being burned.
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Conclusions
After spending many hours researching in the library, conversing with “self-called
biodiesel experts,” and conducting trial after trial, there are many conclusions. The first
one is that there are many problems that have been identified in the process of creating
biodiesel in a high school setting and solutions were created to help make the synthesis
go as smoothly as possible. There were soapy emulsions, but the reasons they happened
were found. A good ratio of methanol/NaOH and oil mixture that would end up creating
a good batch of biodiesel was found. Test tubes were much easier to extract the biodiesel
from than a pop bottle. A good amount of time to let the reaction take place and finish to
completion was figured out. The last obstacle that was overcome was whether or not the
oil made a difference. All of the problems arose during the experimentation, but a good
procedure was still developed to use in a high school lab setting. The results were very
precise and accurate, also indicating that the procedure was a success. It was a joy
working on this project, because it not only teaches valuable chemistry aspects, but it has
an effect on the lives of young people. This shows the students how important it is to
develop an alternative fuel source, one that is cheaper and still as efficient. This
experiment that was designed will allow them to learn both of these concepts.
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Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_fuels.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel_production.
oil.htm
pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/article.cgi/enfuem/2005/19/i02/pdf/ef04975f.pdf