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.