Biodiesel connections

Today I was introduced to a gentleman at my school, The probation officer, who brews his own biodiesel from waste oil!!! I knew him from last year but did not know he was making B100. He said he is interested in partnering with my class and even provided a sample of B100 that he made for me to take to ASU Poly to test!!

Allright Janet, here goes...

CURRICULAR GOAL
Produce a curriculum project (4-5 days of students’ in-class work) that translates the research done by this research group into a novel set of activities and thinking that are appropriate for your students.

The following aspects of the curriculum must be addressed in writing:

Big Idea and Concepts: Describe them.
“Big Ideas”: 1. Scientific method (Strand 2 concept 2), 2. Energy, Fuel and the Human impact on environment: (Strand 3 concept 1 and 2 and Strand 4 concept 5), 3. Properties of matter (Strand 5 concepts 1 and 4).
“Supporting Ideas”: Science and Technology in Society (Strand 3 concept 2), Conservation of energy both mechanical and chemical (Strand 5 concept 3).
Then:
a. An in-depth discussion of the particular aspects of the ASU research you selected to model with your students over 4-5 days.
The entire research is relevant to my teaching and I plan to use the actual biodiesel production process in class, as an example for all my practical chemistry applications as well as using the biodiesel fuel usage as a topical discussion on human impact on environment and energy.
b. Describe how you are translating these aspects of ASU research into appropriate student activities and thinking
There is no direct translation as I am, for all intents and purposes, continuing my research from ASU polytechnic. As far as translating the research into lessons and thinking, I will be using the student’s prior knowledge as a starting point in order to draw their interest and enthusiasm into the biodiesel production process. The students will be instructed on lab safety and scientific method prior to the activity of producing biodiesel. The students will be instructed on carbon chemistry, fats and lipids, bonding, pH testing and amounts, chemical formulas and molar mass calculations during and after the biodiesel production process.

Objectives, AZ state standards, Assessments

c. The specific objectives for student learning. (I gave you the ones that are generated from the literature on how people learn (recall the green sheet).
The objectives of my planned activities are primarily to collect data: (students will manipulate one variable in any of the aspects of the first biodiesel production lab activity and identify the responding variables that change as a result). Students will: (develop lab procedures and standardize them in order for all students to be able to match their data sets and more easily compare their results). The students will also: (communicate their results in a data table and be subject to peer review on their results and methods and will be required to seek patterns in their data as well as the data from their peers).

d. The Arizona standards that the curricular project addresses
See the big ideas section.
e. Copies of the learning assessments to be given to students, assessments aligned with your specific objectives and the Arizona state standards.
To be determined.

A Full Description of each activity

g. So that another teacher of your class could do something similar with his/her students

So now I am pursuing the use of Biodiesel production as a thematic unit to use throughout my entire semesters classroom instruction. I have seen a correlation to certain aspects of the biodiesel refining and purity testing, and the curriculum mapping progression that I helped design for the Florence unified school district. Starting with tapping the students prior knowledge I will ask hypothetical questions based on situational based stories like: ... It is 2060; conventional gas prices have topped $15 dollars per gallon due to depleted nonrenewable sources.
Question 1. Do you think that this could happen by 2060? Why or why not?
Question 2. Describe the impact this event would have on:a. the communityb. on the Governmentc. Consumer-Retail businessesetc.. Question 3. What solutions are present:Past, present, Future possibilities:Pros/Cons of the above solutions:

Scientific investigation techniques that I teach first, I can have my students investigate the biodiesel production process or a thought experiment in novel energy sources and fuel. The students will pick an alternative energy solution, (solar, ethanol, compressed air, natural gas, biodiesel etc), and research the feasibility of it. They will then gather into groups based on the solution they chose and begin to fashion a defense based on their chosen solution. A debate will be scheduled to defend the student groups chosen alt fuel. Then when I think that my class is ready, I will introduce the method of biodiesel production and have the students practice the procedure. I can then have groups of students run a batch of biodiesel changing one variable such as amount of base catalyst, amount of methanol, mixing time, temperature etc and have the students note their observations of any differences from their original biodiesel process. Of course, my instruction would re-iterate this "big idea" in science throughout the semester. Next on the FUSD curriculum map is Inquiry process which includes lab safety and measurements. The process in the production of biodiesel, must be precise, not only with the ratio of chemicals used but converting them from mass, density, liquid volume and the use of molar masses in ratio (stoichiometry). The biodiesel production process lends itself to these practices. There is also a safety aspect to the lab as the students would be working with glassware and corrosive chemicals. Next objective is Physics. There are plenty of models or examples to be connected to physics such as the fuel providing the energy to start or stop motion, the mechanics of a diesel engine as an example of simple and complex machines and the relationship between heat and pressure that enables the engine to run. The students can also investigate the energy flow of petroleum diesel versus biodiesel in the environment. For the rocket unit, (action/reaction forces), the students can compare the fuel used to launch their rocket with that of the biodiesel fuel, based on physical properties and calculating efficiency and energy potential. The chemistry and biochemistry units naturally lend themselves to the biodiesel production as the students can investigate the chemical formulas, chemical properties and chem. reactions that are present in the refinement process. There are also many refinement and purity steps that involve the use of acid test, and numbers as well. Also the concept of fuel can be brought up again, for example, cars using fuel versus humans, plants and animals. The last part of the curriculum map includes climate and earth science. Again the biodiesel solution to fossil fuel is a topic that naturally lends itself to be a unifying theme that can tie these real world issues into a bridge for the students and allow them to connect to their academic learning.

Final day in the lab.

Well, today was the final hurrah in the lab. We did not start any new experiments except to attempt to re-react some of our finished biodiesel to see if any more glycerin formed. It did but very little which is another example of a type of purity test, or to see if it was reacted enough. We did complete the other experiments that needed completion, the canola oil run, and the transestrification of lard. We imported the data into our table to present to Dr. Olson and provide him a reference as he continues the project. We then took Dr. Olson to lunch to thank him for the opportunity to work with him in his research. We went to YC's Mongolian BBQ and it was excellent!! We talked to Olson about taking student samples of BDO to the FTIR at ASU Polytech and possibly hosting an audience of High school students to talk and present to Olson and his graduate students on scientific topics. Our group agreed that it would be a great opportunity for the students.

Americo Biodiesel plant!

Finally we visited the Americo plant! We met the founder and "CEO" and had some good conversation with him about the ecology and corporate side of his business venture. I asked the question "do you have to pay for the waste oil" and he lit up like a candle talking about how he does pay for the oil but the benefit to the restaurant is much more when he mentions to them that they can call themselves eco-friendly because they are contributing to the Biofuel market and not polluting with their waste oil. The plant is a little rough around the edges however it is pretty much a working large scale experiment in Biodiesel production! He is constantly trying new methods and techniques in order to perfect the process. He was hugely accommodating with our visit but understandably refused to allow photos of his Biodiesel reactors or process. He showed us the tanks that the waste oil first passes through. This was surprising as there was all type of crap that is in the sieve after the first filtering, wood steaks, plastics, cloth etc! Remember this stuff comes from restaurants! He took us through his "Lab" where he and his chemist test the purity and other aspects of the finished BDO for proper ASTM specs before they sell it. His plant is also run on the biodiesel that it produces so it is truly "off the grid" so to speak. This was very exciting and I hope myself and my students can stay in contact with him about our experiences with the refinement process.

Curriculum ideas continued

So now I am pursuing the use of Biodiesel production as a thematic unit to use throughout my entire semesters classroom instruction. I have seen a correlation to certain aspects of the biodiesel refining and purity testing, and the curriculum mapping progression that I helped design for the Florence unified school district. Starting with Scientific investigation techniques that I teach first, I can have my students investigate the biodiesel production process or a thought experiment in novel energy sources and fuel. Then when I think that my class is ready, I will introduce the method of biodiesel production and have the students practice the procedure. I can then have groups of students run a batch of biodiesel changing one variable such as amount of base catalyst, amount of methanol, mixing time, temperature etc and have the students note their observations of any differences from their original biodiesel process. Of course, my instruction would re-iterate this "big idea" in science throughout the semester. Next on the FUSD curriculum map is Inquiry process which includes lab safety and measurements. The process in the production of biodiesel, must be precise, not only with the ratio of chemicals used but converting them from mass, density, liquid volume and the use of molar masses. The biodiesel production process lends itself to these practices. There is also a safety aspect to the lab as the students would be working with glassware and corrosive chemicals. Next objective is Physics. There is plenty of models or examples to be connected to physics such as the fuel providing the energy to start or stop motion, The mechanics of a diesel engine as an example of simple and complex machines and heat and pressure that enables the engine to run. The students can also investigate the energy flow of petroleum diesel versus biodiesel in the environment. For the rocket unit, (action/reaction forces), the students can compare the fuel used to launch their rocket with that of the biodiesel fuel, based on physical properties and energy potential. The chemistry and biochemistry units naturally lend themselves to the biodiesel production as the students can investigate the chemical formulas, chemical properties and chem. reactions that are present in the refinement process. There is also many refinement and purity steps that involve the use of acid test, and numbers as well. Also the concept of fuel can be brought up again, for example, cars using fuel versus humans, plants and animals. The last part of the curriculum map includes climate and earth science. Again the biodiesel solution to fossil fuel is a topic that naturally lends itself to be a unifying theme that can tie these real world issues into a bridge for the students and allow them to connect to their academic learning.

Scale model Biodiesel reactor, 1st run virgin soy oil:

Yesterday and today we started up our scale model to test the ability of our pump to mix the reactants in our tubs. The preliminary results seem to be promising! The pump will move the viscous oil at a mere 20 psi which was the lower limit for our water test. We found that the pump and pipes will retain about 500 mL of fluid which can usually be flushed out by allowing the pump move air through at the end of the run. We also separated the product and washed them differently. The sep funnel on the left was washed only with 300 mL of water with a spray bottle, the one to the right was washed this way as well along with the agitation of an air pump and bubbler tip. After the second wash (shown) the wash technique using the bubbler seemed to create a "cleaner" biodiesel.

Large scale Biodiesel model.

Today we used our diagram to create a diversion valve to use the pump as a re-circulation to and from the same container. We cut the pipe and assembled the apparatus. We also tested the oleic acid content in both virgin soy oil, and the filtered waste oil we will be turning into biodiesel.

Large scale model of Biodiesel factory is coming online.

Today we found that Dr. Olsen is just as excited as we are to get the model working. Yesterday we left the PVC to cure and we found that Dr. Olsen couldn't wait for us, he started the pump to be the first to see it work, NO FAIR!!! He also found the leaks in the fittings that we had to patch before we ran flow tests of the pump. We found that the PSI rate dropped 10 psi after the pump starts, probably the pressure it takes to create cavitation in the pump diaphragm. We started our flow rate at 20 psi and ran 3 time trials to fill a 4000 mL flask. Then we raised the psi 10 and ran 3 tests until we reached 50 psi. At 50 we found that the pump began to flow at 50 psi and dropped to nearly 40 by the time that 4000 mL was reached. Our group figured that this was the psi limit to this pump. We also found that the pump would not function below 20 psi. We also ran some FT IR spectrogram's to test sample purity and prepared samples for the Gas Chromatography machine. Finally we worked out the schematics on our plumbing diagram to divert our flow back to the original container in order to facilitate mixing of Veg oil and the Methanol/KOH solution to create Biodiesel.

Day 3 of Biodiesel reaction, "Test purity"

Today our group had several tasks to achieve. First we had to filter our KOH alcoholic solution for pH testing standards later, perform an "acid titration" reaction (seen as the flask with "pink" fluid in it, oops too much base, that is OK, first try), Separate the glycerin and methanol byproduct from our Biodiesel reaction through distillation for later purity testing, Test our biodiesel with FTIR spectrometer for purity, and test the "flash point" of our first biodiesel attempt for purity, and finally we started the "plumbing" for our larger scale model of the Biodiesel reactor from the partnering factory. We achieved all tasks and will be ready to test our Bioreactor tomorrow!

Day 2 of Biodiesel reaction, "Wash day"

Today we opened the valve on the sep funnel and drained the water that we washed our experimental biodiesel with. We then tested it and found, as expected, that it was highly alkaline with a pH (+-11). This was expected as the catalyst we used was a base. We washed the Biodiesel 3 more times for a total of 4 washings. The final was came out at a pH of 7 or neutral. Then we took 4 samples to the FTIR spectrometer for some purity tests and baseline tests. The samples we tested were Petroleum diesel, methanol+glycerin mix from the biodiesel reaction, pure H2O, and our Biodiesel product after washing. Finally, we funneled the rest of our biodiesel into a sample container and added Na2SO4, a compound that absorbs water to "dry" it out.

First attempt at Biodiesel reaction.

Today we first worked out the approximate molecular weight of the Soybean oil molecule as well as the other molecules involved in the reactions. Then we worked out the recipe for making biodiesel.

The first image is our biodiesel in a separation pipette after it reacted with an excess amount of methanol as well as dissolved Potassium hydroxide as a catalyst. At this point the biodiesel is separating from the methanol and glycerin due to the differing densities. The second image is after we syphoned off the methanol and glycerin, we added 100 mL of H2O to "wash" the biodiesel, that is removing any compounds that are dissolved in water. Since Biodiesel is an oil, it separates from the water.

Lab work continued...

Today we defined some physical property terms as far as organic liquid compounds are concerned. One of which was "Flash Point". The flash point is defined as when the minimum concentration at which a liquid vapor (liquid + atmosphere), will burn. This value is determinant on the vapor pressure and the temperature. The flash point can be used to determine the purity of the sample that you place into the flash point tester apparatus because many compounds have a certain flash point based on temperature. In the lab we were instructed on the proper use of the flash tester. After practicing on methanol, (low flash point), and methanol + water= higher flash point, we used the refined biodiesel from our partnering company. The flash point was supposed to be at between 130-141 degrees C. When we tested the biodiesel in the tester we did not obtain a positive flash until 210 degrees C!! This could be due to an impurity in the biodiesel such as H2O, which is formed during the refining process, and could be present to raise the flashpoint.

Infrared Spectroscopy

Here are some Infrared spectragraphs (ABOVE), that were of the most importance that we will be using to identify the compounds that we will be making in the lab during biofuel production.

Today our group was able to sample some organic compounds with the infrared spectroscope. We practiced preparing a sample, procedures to start up the machine and how to read the graph that comes up. Infrared is on the lower energy end of the electromagnetic end of the spectrum, just under visible light. Our group followed the procedures for using the instrument which is:
1. Sign in on logbook
2. Turn on the electronics with the power strip and load the software with the "EZ" and triangle logo.
3. ensuring the liquid tray is in place, wipe the sample window with chemwipes soaked in methanol.
4. RUN background to cancel the "noise" that may contaminate sample, don't save.
5. Place a drop of sample over window and Click the button on comp.
6. Save sample, floppy or on H.D.
7. Label peaks, to identify the composition of sample.
8. CLEAN the sample window with chemwipes soaked in methanol.

After the samples, we were able to observe a potential graduate student orally defend her thesis project. Talk about the "HOT SEAT"!!!!

Initial Ideas for curriculum

I am thinking first how I can adapt the project for my Honors Physical science class. This includes the prospective Arizona Science and Engineering fair for next school year. I want the studens to identify the problems with current conventional fuel and the Biofuel alternatives. Then possibly create a Buisness plan to convert the Florence school district busses to run on biodiesel or possibly run on reclaimed vegetable oil. I have identified the interdisceplinary connection possibilities and have requested a bus from the district to use for this research purpose. We will see if they give me a bus to work with!!! Of course I have also identified many things that I will need to do before this project will materialize, most notably GRANTS and donations in order to aquire the materiels my students will need.

Possibilities for my regular students could take the form of situatinal based problem solving. For example: A story starting with... It is 2060, conventional gas prices have topped $15 dollars per gallon due to depleted nonrenewable sources. Describe the impact this event would have on:
1. the community
2. on the Government
3. Consumer-Retail businesses
etc..

What solutions are present:
Now: Future possibilities:

Pros/Cons of the above solutions:

Research at ASU Poly

6-17-08
How exciting!!! Our team was schooled on organic chemistry and the history and mechanics of diesel engines. The discussion included a path from oils aka (lipids) to triglycerides. These are unsaturated fatty acids that are usually fluid at room temperatures and are ideal for use as a Biodiesel fuel. We also learned how fatty acids react with glycerol, (with a little catalyst of acid or base) to form triglycerides and water. But wait, there is more! The reaction goes both ways and if there are too many H2O molecules present the reaction will reverse and create fatty acids again, (BAD at least for the company trying to produce Biodiesel). Iodine values can indicate the saturation values of fatty acids as Iodine bonds to the Carbon atoms within the fatty acid molecule chain. Triglycerides are usually more prevalent in plant oils and are the preferred raw materiel for Biodiesel production. In order to convert triglycerides into a fuel akin to Diesel, it must go through a process called: "Trans-esterification". This is where our labwork comes into play. We learned today that we will be creating a small scale working model of the transesterification process that the partner company has developed. And oh no... there will be no blue prints or specs for us to use. We will build from scratch, starting with the basic premise set up by our knowledge of biochemical reactions of pure veg oils. Then, once our model is up and running, we will begin to change some of the variables such as using reclaimed oils to see if we can perfect the process.