Production of Biodiesel
Diesel versus Biodiesel
Diesel
• Petroleum product (Petra =
rock; oleum = oil)
• Made from crude oil which
takes millions of years to
form
• Non-renewable resource
Biodiesel
• Can be made from
vegetable oils and animal
fats
• Most commonly made from
soybean and canola oil,
vegetable crops that can be
grown annually
• Can be made from waste
oils and greases (from fryers
of restaurants and factories)
• Renewable resource
How is biodiesel made?
• Primary source of
biodiesel is vegetable oil
• Most plant oils and
animal fats are
triglycerides
How is biodiesel made? continued
• Reaction of transesterification
Other name: methyl
alcohol
Base catalyst is a strong base potassium
hydroxide which is reacted to methanol to form
methoxide.
How is biodiesel made? continued
• Heat is also necessary to speed up the reaction
• The fatty acid tails are removed from the glycerol
in the oils
• They are converted into esters (biodiesel)
Lab Objectives
• Perform a transesterification on a triglyceride
(oil) to separate glycerol and fatty acids.
• Use a two phase process to increase
conversion of vegetable oil to biodiesel
• Observe the differences in burning properties
between biodiesel and vegetable oil.
Safety First
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Lab apron
CHEMICALS ARE CORROSIVE
(CAN CAUSE BURN).
CAUTION AROUND HOT
PLATES
PART OF YOUR GRADE WILL
BE ON HOW YOU CAN
FOLLOW SAFETY.
Materials
• 2 100 ml beakers
• Graduated cylinder 100
ml
• graduated cylinder 10 ml
• Thermometer
• Transfer pipettes
• Stirring rod
• 12.5 ml Methyl alcohol
• timer
Materials shared
•
•
•
•
vegetable oil
potassium hydroxide
Electronic balance
Hot plate
Making crude biodiesel – two phase
process
• Methoxide preparation: mixing methanol with
potassium hydroxide (steps 1 to 7)
• Phase 1 transesterification: react the oil with
methoxide while heating to produce biodiesel
esters and glycerol (steps 8 to 16)
• Phase 2 transesterification: convert any
remaining triglycerides (oil) into biodiesel
(steps 17 to 21)
Pre-lab: Procedure reading
comprehension
• While reading the procedures 1 to 21:
– Put a box around amounts/ grams or volumes/ml
of chemicals.
– Underline action verbs/phrase
– Put a circle around times and temperature.
– Draw the safety triangle symbol
whenever
there is safety issue.
Example: 1. using an electronic balance, weigh out
0.6 g of potassium hydroxide. Continue shaking in 60
seconds increments. Heat the oil to 55-60°C.
Pre-lab: procedure flowchart
• Take the underlined,
boxed, and circled
information and put it
into a flowchart.
• Add illustrations to your
flowchart