Chemistry Project 2007
ECoS Faculty: Jackie Bortiatynski
ECoS Undergraduate Mentor: Megan Kolarz
Biodiesel From Vegetable Oil
This project focuses on the generation and characterization of biodiesel synthesized from
used vegetable oil. Students will choose a source of vegetable oil and carry out two saponification
reactions under different conditions in an attempt to optimize the amount of biodiesel produced.
The students will need to titrate the oil prior to saponification to determine the correct amount of
base for the conversion to biodiesel. The saponified products will be isolated and the crude
biodiesel will be characterized by viscometry, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. If too
much base is used the dominant product will be soap and very little biodiesel will be generated.
The goals of this project are: (1) to understand the composition of vegetable oils; (2) to understand
how biodiesel is created; (3) to learn how to saponify an oil; (4) to learn how to do an acid/base
titration; (5) to learn how to measure viscosity and understand the significance of this physical
property in terms of fuel design; and (6) to understand how GC/MS can be used to characterize a
reaction mixture.
Powerpoint Presentation