Transcript HPHS Biodiesel Laboratory Reactor construction & Biodiesel

The students in the Freshman Academy & the Green
School Initiative are proud to present the following online tutorial about biodiesel production at HPHS
The Highland Park High School
Biodiesel Laboratory was designed to
teach students the science behind the
production of alternative sources of
energy.
Students and teachers in the
Freshman Academy and the Green
School Initiative, partnered with
Loyola University to learn about
biofuel production and laboratory
design.
This slideshow provides viewers with
a step-by-step tutorial of how the
biodiesel lab was constructed, and
how the biodiesel fuel is produced by
students.
Tutorial #1
Producing the Biodiesel fuel
The students at HPHS worked closely with students and staff at Loyola
University to develop the following protocol for the production of
biodiesel from Waste Vegetable oil.
This production process has been tested and refined continuously by
our students and staff, and thus, are not intended to be a definitive
account of how to produce biodiesel fuel.
This site is not intended to be a complete tutorial on biodiesel
production, and thus, details of our process have been edited from this
tutorial in order to give our audience only a very basic overview of our
production process.
If you have any specific questions about our production techniques,
please contact Tom Koulentes, HPHS Assistant Principal, at
[email protected]
Day #1: Gather
the Waste
Vegetable Oil
from the school
cafeteria
HPHS students have arranged to collect
25 gallons of waste vegetable oil from
our school cafeteria every two weeks.
This waste vegetable oil would be
heading toward the garbage, we are
recapturing it and converting it to
biodiesel fuel that we will use to run our
school tractors and lawnmowers.
We carry and store the WVO in metal 5
gallon buckets. LIDS are very important!!
We filter the WVO we collect through a 5
micron filter in order to remove any food
particles or debris before we put it into
our reactor.
Day #1: Perform a titration on the Waste Vegetable Oil
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In order to determine the appropriate
mixture for our methoxide solution, we must
perform a titration with every new batch of
WVO we collect.
Students conduct standard titration
procedures, making reference solutions,
analyte solutions, and ultimately, reading
the titration results.
A “titration station” has been created in our
biodiesel lab to facilitate this process.
The purpose of the titration is to determine
how much lye we will need to add to our
mixture in order to neutralize our WVO.
All data is recorded in our lab journal.
Students work together to
conduct titrations.
Day #1: Pump WVO into reactor &
heat the oil.
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After we determine how
much biodiesel we would
like to produce, we place
this amount of WVO into
our main mixing tank.
Immediately, we begin
heating the oil as it
circulates through the
pump. We heat to 50
degrees Celsius.
An automatic thermostat, built
by the students, controls the
temperature of the WVO.
Students work together to
add WVO to the tank
Day #1: Create Methoxide Solution
Once titration is performed,
and total amount of
biodiesel to be produced is
established, students
crunch numbers to prepare
methoxide mix.
 Methoxide (methanol & lye)
is mixed in an approved
science lab under teacher
supervision.
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Methoxide is a chemical that must be
handled with care, adult supervision
is required at all times.
Students
work with
Prof.
Tuchman to
check their
calculations
and to
create the
methoxide
solution
Day #1—First Reaction
When WVO reaches 50
degrees (celsius) we pour
the methoxide solution into
the methoxide storage
tank.
 Next, we pump 80% of our
methoxide solution into the
WVO
 We run the pump for 60-90
min., allowing the oil and
methoxide to mix.
 After 60-90 min., pump is
turned off and mixture is
left to settle for 24 hours.
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Student carefully adding
methoxide mix to our storage
tank. This tank connects to
main storage tank and pump
for easy mixing.
Day #2—Draining Glycerin
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After settling for 24 hrs,
glycerin has separated
from biodiesel.
Students drain glycerin
and record the volume of
glycerin drained.
Glycerin is poured into
waste glycerin container.
Biodiesel is recaptured
and returned to main
mixing tank.
Sample of the Glycerin (dark
brown) that has settled on
bottom of tank and biodiesel
(gold) that remains on top.
Day #2—Second Reaction
After draining the
initial glycerin from the
main tank, we run a
second reaction by
pumping the
remaining 20% of
methoxide into the
reactor.
 The reactor runs for
90 min.
 We allow the mixture
to settle overnight.
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Day #3—Draining Glycerin
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We return to the reactor
and drain any new
glycerin that has formed
as result of our second
reaction.
Students watch carefully
as the glycerin drains to
shut off the valve when
threshold between
glycerin and biodiesel
appears.
Day #3—Fuel Washing
After draining all remaining
glycerin, the fuel must be
washed with water.
 A simple hose, with a
nozzle set to “mist” works
well for fuel washing.
 We wash fuel by adding
40% water to our biodiesel
volume.
 After washing, we let the
mixture settle for 30 min.
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Students wash the biodiesel &
monitor the overall volume of
water added to the mixture.
Day #3—Draining the Wash Water
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After allowing mixture to
settle, students drain the
wash water from the
main tank.
The volume of water
drained is recorded in
our lab journal.
Students watch carefully for the
threshold between the wash
water and the biodiesel.
Day #3—Checking pH of Wash Water
While draining initial wash
water, a 50 ml sample is
collected in a beaker.
 Students check the pH of
this sample using pH
paper.
 Students will repeat fuel
washing procedures until a
pH of 7 (neutral) is
reached.
 Once pH of wash water
reaches 7, the tank is
allowed to settle overnight.
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Students use pH paper to
determine pH of wash water.
Day #4—Drain remaining wash water
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After settling 24 hours,
any remaining wash
water is drained from the
main tank.
The complete volume of
wash water drained is
recorded in our lab
journal.
A sample of our wash
water.
Day #4—Bubble drying biodiesel
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After wash water is
completely drained,
students add the
aquarium bubbler to the
main tank.
The aquarium bubbler is
run for 24 hours. The
bubbles help to remove
any remaining water.
Day #5—Filter finished biodiesel
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Students drain biodiesel
from main tank by
running it through a 5
micron filter.
Day #5—Fuel storage
Finished biodiesel is
stored in fuel caddy and
sent to the maintenance
garage for use on school
tractors and
lawnmowers.
 Reactor is cleaned and
prepared for next
production cycle.
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Sample of our finished
biodiesel product.
Day #5—Biodiesel Dance
Once the production cycle is completely finished, students do the biodiesel
dance to celebrate the fact that they are working to conserve environmental
resources!