Science 30 Project Biodiesel—A Fuel for the Future?
Note: This is crude biodiesel and is NOT of a high enough quality to put directly into a vehicle. In industrial processes, it must go through a process called “washing” to remove excess glycerin, base, and alcohol.
Burning the Biodiesel (Mr. Ackerman may demonstrate this step):
- Biodiesel can be safely used in spirit burners. Pour some of your biodiesel into a spirit burner. Once the biodiesel has soaked up the wick, light the wick of the spirit burner. If the biodiesel does not soak up the wick, use the pipette to place a few drops on the wick. Record your observations in Table 3.
- Try burning the unreacted oil and the methanol in other spirit burners. For each different fuel tested, record your observations in Table 3.
- Store the remainder of the biodiesel in an appropriate container labelled with your name.
- Hug Mr. Ackerman. Tell him he's da bomb.
