An Experiment on the Synthesis and Characterization of Biodiesel Fuel

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

The main purpose of this experiment was to synthesize banana oil (isopentyl acetate.) Ester are often prepared by the Fischer esterification method, which involves heating a carboxylic acid with an alcohol in the presence of an acid catalyst.

After the transesterification process was complete the LEA was separated from the biofuel, and water/methanol mixture using an Erlenmeyer filtering funnel utilizing both course and fine filters (Whatman 1541-125 and 1542-125). A 1:1 solvent to water ratio (300 mL) and a 3:1 solvent to chloroform ratio (100 mL) were added to induce a phase separation. Phase separation was allowed to occur overnight. Biofuel and chloroform were separated from the methanol/water mixture using a separation funnel. The chloroform and biofuel were separated by evaporating and recovering the chloroform by heating the mixture to 62°C and then running the chloroform gas through a condenser. Samples were taken of each product and byproduct excluding chloroform so that

Biobutanol is a more feasible alternative to gasoline. It is a more viable motor fuel substitute to gasoline, as biomass – from which biobutanol is derived from – is readily available for production and more importantly is a renewable resource. Gasoline is a crude oil product derived from petroleum, which is finite and unsustainable as a motor fuel, because it is increasingly being used up faster than it is being produced. It is expected that with continued research, biobutanol could eventually surpass gasoline as the primary motor fuel. Evidence proves that biobutanol is more acceptable environmentally than gasoline and conveniently, biomass is readily available for the steady production of biobutanol. Biobutanol is more advantageous

In the first part of this experiment, an ester product will be isolated and purified from unknown alcohol. Then the product ester will be identified through analysis of boiling point, gas chromatography, and IR spectroscopy. In the second part of the experiment, Biodiesel will be synthesized from vegetable oil by transesterification.

The biggest problem the United States faces today when we talk about becoming energy independent is replacing the gas we use to power our vehicles. When we talk about replacing gasoline as the fuel we use to power our vehicles, biomass, hydrogen, and fuel cells are the three most talked about alternatives. Biomass, which is organic material made from plants and animals, contains stored energy from the sun. Biomass in the form of bio fuels can be used to make the same products as those we make from fossil fuels. Its main advantages over fossil fuels are that bio fuels are better for the environment and can be produced right here in the United States. Although some experts complain that bio fuels release carbon

When researching the effects of biodiesel versus vegetable oil on a vehicle the results were interesting. Due to the increasing gas prices and the Obama Administration to wean the U.S. off of the addiction of oil, people are starting to switch to alternative fuel. ("Diesel vs. Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil | Homegrown Fuels - Consumer Reports." Diesel vs. Biodiesel vs. Vegetable Oil | Homegrown Fuels - Consumer Reports. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.) this would include farm crop and renewable organic material. they are also in use with biodiesel and Vegetable oils. Developed from vegetable or animal fats, biodiesel is functionally identical to petroleum diesel. Adherents claim it pollutes much less than regular diesel. A relative of biodiesel is plain, edible cooking oil. Because it's not financially practical to fuel a car with cooking oil from grocery store shelves— a

The biofuel that I believe to be the best is biodiesel. Biodiesel is considered the best because it is Biodiesel, also known as methyl linoleate, has been tested in our labs and has shown that it is a very strong contender to be the best biofuel. First, biodiesel has a very low viscosity, meaning that it can pass through engines without much trouble, making biodiesel easier to process for the engine. Biodiesel also had the highest germination percentage throughout the experiment when put against other fuels at a consistent basis throughout multiple molarity concentrations. This shows that biodiesel is the most consistent source of fuel when put against others. Biodiesel also has a very high heat of combustion, and thus is more efficient because

The Transesterification process is the reaction of a triglyceride (fat/oil) with an alcohol to form esters and glycerol (Wahab Maqbool, 2010). A triglyceride has a glycerine molecule as its base with three long chain fatty acids attached. During the esterification process, the triglyceride is reacted with alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, usually a strong alkaline like sodium hydroxide. The alcohol reacts with the fatty acids to form the mono-alkyl ester, or biodiesel and crude glycerol. In most production methanol or ethanol is the alcohol used (methanol produces methyl esters, ethanol produces ethyl esters) and is base catalyzed by either potassium or sodium

The current issue for Clinton Biodiesel, LLC is that the plant is down and cannot produce biodiesel because of one of the processes within the production are down, which is the degumming system. When the degumming is system is being used it will not function properly to remove all gums and resin, which is causing the system to not fully complete its process to purify the diesel. If the diesel is not fully purified, it is worth less in some cases or in worst cases it cannot be sold at all. The current method of the plant is to use corn oil; this method requires an extra process. The extra process that is required is the degumming process or skid. Until, we are able to get the degumming

Scientists are constantly looking for new and more efficient alternatives for fuel. Not only are these for environmental purposes, but because of depleting fuel levels caused by over-consumption. One common substitute for fuel-commonly>??? made of crude oil or petroleum is ethanol fuel. This fuel, also know as ethyl alcohol, is created by the fermentation and distillation of corn. There are three main advantages and disadvantages when contemplating the use of this alternative fuel.

Micromolecules in bio-oil, and pretreated bio-oil were identified from the GC/MS analysis and classified based on their chemical structure and functional groups. Their relative amounts are presented in Table 4. Total amounts of micromolecules were reduced after the pretreatment, despite the high yield of liquid product. Therefore, it might be due to the dilution with ethanol. Also, the distribution also strikingly changed during this reaction. Almost of acetic acid, and levoglucosan, which are known as decline bio-oil stability and properties, were changed into the ester form with ethanol, such as acetic acid ethyl ester, and levulinic acid ethyl ester. The compound like 2,2-diethoxy ethanol was only identified in the pretreated bio-oil, so it might be resulted from the reaction of ethanol itself. Since amberlyst 36 also has a capacity to phenol purification, total micromolecular phenols decreased from 38.1 to 13.4-17.2. Generally, almost of phenols reduced during the reaction, alkylated phenols like cresol, 2,4-dimethyl phenol, or 4-ethyl phenol were strikingly decreased. Therefore, it was suggested that phenol

Biodiesel is a cleaner diesel fuel for diesel engines in many types of vehicles. It is safer for the environment and is a cleaner version of diesel. It is made from soybeans and other vegetation. It is made with a process called transesterification it seperates glycerin from fat or oil and then methyl esters and glycerin is what is left over and used for the fuel.

The second way to make bio fuel is to grow plants high in oil. Examples of these plants are oil palm and soya bean. These oils are taken from the plants, heated to make them runny and then used in diesel engines. Wood and things made from wood can also be used to make bio fuels like methanol and ethanol.

Oil used were lauric oil, vegetable oil and lard. Each triacylglycerol was weighed to 1.0g. Each were placed n separate round bottom flask.. 15mL of 5% alcoholic KOH was added into each flask from a burette. KOH was used in order to hydrolyze the glyceryl esters to glycerol and the potassium salts of fatty acids. Alcoholic KOH was used to allow oil be soluble in it. [1] Two to three pieces of boiling chips were added so as to prevent formation of large bubbles [1]. It was then subjected to reflux for an hour. After which, it was then cooled to room temperature. The solution was then transferred into an Erlenmeyer flask. Small amounts of hexane were added to rinse of remaining oil from the round bottom flask. It was then titrated with 0.5M HCl, using 1% phenolphthalein as the indicator. Volume of KOH used was used to determine the saponification number by using the eq. 2