Which Vegetable Oil Biodiesel is an

Effective Substitute for Diesel Fuel?

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment was to determine which biodiesel made from
vegetable oil would be the best replacement for diesel fuel in the future.

My hypothesis is that the methanol biodiesel will be the most affective

substitute for diesel fuel and less harmful to the environment.

To determine the caloric value of the biodiesels by measuring the amount of

fuel needed to heat 50ml of water 5C? and compare to the results to diesel
fuel. To measure flammability, ignite a small amount of the biodiesel and
compare the flames to that of all the other samples at the same time. The
suitability of the flame is determined by burning a sample of the biodiesels
in the fume hood and allowing the soot to be collected on a coffee filter and
measured with a light sensor. Viscosity is measured by using the viscosity of
water to compare the viscosity of the biodiesel to the diesel fuel. The
method of measuring viscosity used in this experiment was to record the
time that it took for a known quantity of the sample to travel through the
plastic funnel.

Based on the results of this experiment, my hypothesis should be accepted.

From this project, it is possible to learn how much each fuel pollutes the
planet, the effect of each fuel on a fuel injected engine, the flammability of
each fuel in case of a spill, as well as the amount of energy that can be
created by each of the biodiesels compared to diesel.
INTRODUCTION
Biodiesel is a safer alternative to diesel fuel because it is environmentally
safe and has no known side affects on humans. Diesel is used in some
vehicles today and many consumers do not like them do to the sound and
smell. The smell of the fuel is eliminated with the biodiesel because it is
made from different materials. Testing the biodiesels for common
characteristics with diesel fuel is important as well. It is good to know how
the biodiesel will affect the planet as well as the consumers’ car. Money and
jobs may also be a problem when switching from diesel to biodiesel. It can
be fixed though if everyone has open minds about change and how to work
around problems with the big picture still in mind

MATERIALS

Quantity Item 3 Wicks

1500ml Vegetable oil 3 Alcohol burner caps
590ml Diesel fuel 2 2000ml beakers
695ml Distilled water 1 1000ml beaker
85ml Methanol 1 250ml beaker
75ml Ethanol 1 10ml graduated cylinder
KOH (Potassium 1 Thermometer
2.5g
hydroxide) 1 Burner stand
NaOH (Sodium 1 Stopwatch
2.5g
hydroxide)
1 Magnetic mixer/heater
1 Pair of safety goggles
9 Coffee filters
1 Dryer hose
6 50ml graduated cylinders
1 Triple beam balance
4 Watch glasses
1 Plastic funnel
1 Screen funnel
1 Fume hood
1 Glass stir stick
1 Test tube
1 Test tube stopper
1 Tin can
1 Plastic massing cup
1 One-hole rubber stopper
1 Mortal and Pestle
¼ teaspoon measuring
1
utensil
1 Beret clamp
1 Backboard
1 Alcohol burner
1 Ring clamp
1 Ring Stand
1 Lamp
1 Vernier light sensor
1 Vernier LabPro
1 Vernier LoggerPro
- Matches
- Disposable pipets
- Rubber bands
- Plastic wrap
- Cotton cloth

PROCEDURES
Procedure for Making the Ethanol Biodisel

1. For safety, put on safety glasses during the process of making and testing
the biodisel.
2. Pour 75ml of ethanol and 4ml of water to create a 95% ethanol solution.
3. Add 75ml of the ethanol solution to 500ml of vegetable oil in a 2000ml
beaker.
4. Measure 5ml of distilled water into a test tube.
5. Add 2.5g of potassium hydroxide pellets.
6. Cap with a stopper and shake until completely dissolved.
7. Slowly add 5ml of 9mol dm3 potassium hydroxide solution with a pipet
over a 1-minute period to the vegetable oil and ethanol.
8. Stir continuously in the magnetic mixer for 3 hours on a low setting while
covering the solution with plastic wrap and a rubber band to prevent
evaporation. Do not stir vigorously.
9. Pour the solution through a screen funnel and allow settling for 1 hour and
cover with plastic wrap and a rubber band to prevent evaporation.
 10. Pour the settled solution though a screen funnel and discard the lower
glycerol layer.
11. Add 20ml of distilled water to the product and mix well with the
magnetic mixer (do not shake) and let stand for 1 hour while covering the
solution with plastic wrap and a rubber band to prevent evaporation.
12. Run off the lower layer of the solution through a screen funnel and
repeat until the product is clear.
13. Add 2.5g anhydrous sodium sulfate and stir for 15 minutes.
14. Allow the sodium sulfate to settle.
15. Cover the solution with plastic wrap and a rubber band to prevent
evaporation.

Procedure for Making the Methanol Biodiesel

1. For safety, put on safety glasses during the process of making and testing
the biodiesel.
2. For safety, put on safety glasses.
3. Pour 500ml of vegetable oil into a 1000ml beaker.
4. Place on the magnetic mixer/heater with the magnet in the oil.
5. Heat and stir the mixture while holding a thermometer in the middle of
the solution until it reaches 46C°.
6. Crush sodium hydroxide in a crushing pot until there are small flakes.
7. In a separate beaker, measure 85ml of methanol and ¼ teaspoon of sodium
hydroxide.
8. Stir in the magnetic mixer until all of the particles are thoroughly mixed
in.
9. Add the methanol solution to the warm vegetable oil and stir vigorously
with the magnetic mixer for 30 minutes.
10. Pour the solution into 5 50ml-graduated cylinders and cover with plastic
wrap and rubber bands.
11. Allow the mixture to settle for 24 hours.
12. Use a screen funnel to remove the glycerin from the bottom of the
mixture.
13. Discard the excess layers.
Procedure for Testing Flammability

1. Put on safety goggles.

2. Pour 1ml of each biodiesel and the diesel sample onto the four watch
glasses.
3. Place under the fume hood.
4. Light a match very carefully to all of the samples.
5. Using the observations made, determine in which order the samples are
compared in flammability to each other by the physical aspects of the flame.
(Use a 1 to 3 scale).
6. Repeat steps 1-5 2 times and average the results.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES

Diesel is a fuel that is made from fossil fuels and has serious side affects to
human health. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
wanted diesel to be regarded as, “a potential occupational carcinogen.” A
carcinogen is something that causes cancer and people can get cancer when
they breathe the polluted air that the car exhaust from diesel engines are
creating. In the late 1970’s, over half a million diesel vehicles were sold in
the United States alone. Diesel is in buses, cars, trucks, and other
transportation devices in every town. Diesel engines are fuel injected and
therefore, the type of fuel that is put into the engine must be carefully
calculated. Diesel is not used in all cars because diesel engines are more
expensive, slower in acceleration, less reliable, hard to start in bad weather,
and not to mention that consumers do not like the sound or smell of diesel
engines. Gasoline is also more available than diesel and therefore, consumers
seem to buy more gasoline cars as well. It is predicted however, that there
will most likely be more diesel engines on the road because they have a
longer engine life and are trying to make diesel a more efficient fuel. If
that is the case, pollution will also be on the incline.

A biodiesel is a cleaner burning fuel that is renewable and can be substituted

for diesel fuel. It can be made from animal fats or vegetable oil along with
alcohol and other solutes. When adding a biodiesel to the engine, a biodiesel
must require no engine modifications to the vehicle. Tests have shown that
there is no difference between the performance and wear of certain
 biodiesels when compared to diesel. Biodiesels are also safer to the
environment and to human health. Biodiesels reduce the amount of unburned
hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and other matter that is dispersed into the
environment through the car exhaust. This pollution is likely causing the
global warming which will also damage our planet later on. Biodiesel is 50%
less likely to harm the ozone if used in an engine rather than diesel fuel. If
people continue to use diesel as fuel in transportation, the pollution will
cause serious side affects to wildlife, the environment, and the human race.
Humans can get cancer from breathing the pollution along with other
problems in high-populated areas where diesel engines are common.
Biodiesels must share common properties with diesel fuel so that they can
be injected properly into the engine as well as the energy that is given off
by the fuel. Information about biodiesel needs to be distributed to the
consumer in order for them to fully understand their benefits and therefore
increasing the use of biodiesel throughout the planet.

Both methanol and ethanol are alcohols that are quiet common and can be
found easily. Methanol is more toxic and harmful to your health than
ethanol is. Methanol is made from fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas.
Ethanol is made from renewable sources like sugar cane and corn. There are
many arguments about which one should be used in biodiesel and there are
many recipes for making biodiesel using either alcohol. As long as safety
precautions are taken when handling the alcohols, there are no tests to
prove that either is better than the other in terms of the same
concentrations. It all depends on how and what each will be used for and the
amount of time that it will be used.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of this experiment was to determine which biodiesel made from
vegetable oil would be the best replacement for diesel fuel in the future.
The results of this experiment were that the diesel was least viscous with
an average flow time of 15.9 seconds. Methanol fuel followed with an
 average flow time of 32.97 seconds. Ethanol fuel was most viscous with an
average flow time of 117.62 seconds, which is dramatically more viscous than
the other samples. Water had an average flow time of 11.07 seconds just to
compare all the samples to another common fluid. The trials were all very
consistent and more accurate than I had predicted them to be. Diesel was
also more flammable than each sample and was followed by the methanol fuel
and then the ethanol fuel. Both diesel and the methanol fuel samples were
acceptant to the flame from the match to the saturated wick. They both
also created large flames that burned rather quickly and extinguished at
roughly the same time. The ethanol fuel was very difficult to light and took
several attempts. Its flame was also very small and burned for long amounts
of time. The diesel used the most amount of fuel to heat the water at an
average of 0.32g. The methanol fuel followed next with an average amount
of fuel to burn at 0.23g. Ethanol fuel used the least amount of fuel to heat
the water at 0.14g. This means that it would take less ethanol fuel to create
the energy needed to run the vehicle. The diesel also created the most soot
with an average amount of light able to pass though it at 170.63 lux. The
ethanol created the next most amount of soot allowing an average of light
able to pass through it at 268.47 lux. The methanol fuel created the least
amount of soot, allowing the average amount of light to pass through at
280.87 lux.

CONCLUSIONS
From the results, it can be said that methanol is the most like diesel in its
properties and ethanol is not. The flammability test shows how the fuel
could catch on fire if there was an oil spill and if consumers would need to
take extra precautions when handling the fuel. Methanol would be more
flammable than ethanol but that would depend on the concentrations that
scientists devise. The viscosity of the fuel is important because diesel
engines are fuel injected and the viscosity of what is being injected could
affect the vehicles ability to use the fuel. Methanol once again had the
most similar viscosity to diesel than ethanol did and therefore would create
fewer problems for the engine. The caloric values of the fuels are relevant
because the energy that a fuel can create is the whole purpose behind
 powering anything with that particular fuel. If a fuel cannot create enough
energy for something to have the power to run, then the fuel is useless. The
methanol also was able to create more energy than the ethanol and
therefore would be a better choice for consumers. The results of this
experiment can show how much pollution is going to be created by the fuel
when it is burned in the vehicle. This could reduce the amount of pollution
that is created in the environment by the gases given off in the car
exhaust. The soot collected on the filter shows what will be put in the
environment with a given and comparable measure. The methanol created
the least amount of soot and therefore would be a better substitute for
diesel fuel, which created a great amount of pollution. My original
hypothesis was that the methanol biodiesel would be the most affective
substitute for diesel fuel. Based on the results of this experiment, my
hypothesis should be accepted because methanol proved to be most like
diesel in each test and less harmful to the environment. After the results
of this experiment, I wonder what the long-term affects of the biodiesel
might have on the engine. I also wonder what kinds of gases are put off by
the biodiesel and how it would affect humans despite the fact that it is
proven to not create cancer. It would also be interesting to know how the
different concentrations of the alcohol and vegetable oil affect the
properties and the engine of the vehicle. Some systematic errors would be
the fact that there wasn’t an accurate way to place the light sensor and
lamp over the coffee filter. Since I used a cotton wick do to the fact that
the fuel wouldn’t light with a match, it could also affect the way each fuel
burned and perhaps the gases given off. There also wasn’t an accurate way
to measure the flammability in a safe way without testing the flash point
that would be at a very high temperature and it would go too quickly to make
any observations. If someone were to repeat this experiment, I would
recommend using different concentrations of each fuel as well as different
solutes added to the solution. It may also be interesting to know how the
biodiesels could possibly clog the filters in the vehicle if they were to set
for long periods of time and the methods that would be used to clear the
problem. Using different alcohols may also give a new incite to those who
are interested in making biodiesel either commercially or personally.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Biodiesels can expand commercially in order to improve the environment and
reduce the risks of some cancers. Diesel is not a safe and renewable source
of energy and consumers are going to have to choose a new fuel source some
time in the future. It would be best to start the testing now so that
consumers will know what their options will be later on. Testing for the
properties of each biodiesel is important in order to observer the affects
that it will have later on in both the car and in the planet. When a business
shuts down, like the diesel companies will, the jobs of their employees is
something that many are going to worry about. As long as people move to
where the economy is going to be expanding such as processing plants and
farming areas, the availability of job opportunities should not be a problem.
Most consumers are worried about the cost of biodiesel and that all depends
on the quality of the materials that are used. The prices are relatively the
same and if the agriculture is plentiful and less expensive, the there should
not be a large price increase.

REFERENCES
-www.investigatoryprojectexample.com

-www.yahoo.com

-www.wikipedia.com

RESEARCHERS
-Kin Miyage Santos

-Cindy Rose Yamas

-Carlo Gio Calalec

-July Dominique Villadoz

-Nico Borja
 St. Michael School of Marilao

Villa Consuelo Subdivision, Abangan Sur, Marilao, Bulacan

High School Department

Investigatory Project

Submitted to:

Mr. Gilbert O. De Chavez

Submitted by:

Kin Miyage Santos

Cindy Rose Yamas

Carlo Gio Calalec

July Dominique Villadoz

Nico Adriano Borja