Final Day!

~We finally poured our bio diesel that we have been working on for like a month. The bus came but it had some fuel still in it, so the fuel was extracted out. Mr. Ham put the bio diesel in the bus that we made. The bus driver got in the bus and started the bus. The bus took a couple of minutes to get started. But finally it started and it was able to drive back to Alpharetta. Are class did a good job of following the instructions and made sure we did everything right.

Final Steps

~ I think our class is pretty much done with making the biodiesel. Today some people got the last remaining animal fat that was left in the fuel. Others filtered oil, and I made sure all the beakers, buckets and peach tree dishes were clean to use again.
~A way to test the biodiesel is measure the viscosity, solvent properties and gel points of
biodiesel.

Sludge And Animal Fat

~The first day we had get our bottles and keep them up side down. We had a partner to do this part. One had to hold the bottle upside down and squeeze the bottle gentley so the sludge mixture comes out of the bottle. The other partner just watches until the sludge is out of the bottle then puts their under the opening so the fuel doesnt come out. After that they turn the bottle right side up then screw the cap on.
~The second day we would pour the fuel slowly into a beaker so the animal fat stays in the bottle. Then we cleaned our bottle and poured out the rest of the animal fat and slugde in a bucket. After we pour all the fuel that are whole class collected and put them in a empty two liter bottle.

Making the Biodiesel

      First we put 1L of cooking oil in each soda bottle. We measured 500mL in a beaker then poured it through the funnel into the soda bottle. We did this twice so it added up to 1L. After we measured 250mL of methanol and put it into a glass container, then closed the top. Then we measured 12 grams of sodium hydroxideand put it in a pechtree dish. When we were ready to mix the methanol and sodium hydroxide togetherwe opened the glass container and pored the sodium hydoxide quickly in the methanol and tightly screwed on the top. We shook the mixture until the sodium hydroxide desinigrated and you couldn't see the little white balls anymore. After we brought the soda bottle filles with cooking oil and the glass container of the methanol and sodium hydroxide to the fume hood. Then we poured the mixture of methanol and sodium hydroxide into the soda bottle with cooking oil with a funnel. Then screwed the bottle cap onto the soda bottle. After that we shook the mixture a couple of times then you place the soda bootle upsode down in a small beaker so it is raised up and not touching the bottom of the beaker. These are  the steps we used to today to start making the biodiesel.
  

Piston Engine

Engine Camshaft- forces the valves to open by pressing on the valve, or on some intermediate mechanism as they rotate.
Intake Camshaft- the camshaft controlling the intake valves. Thus the operation of the exhaust valves is left to the exhaust cam.
Spark Plug- is an electrical device that fits into the cylinder head of some internal combustion engines and ignites compressed fuels such as aerosol, gasoline, ethanol, and liquefied petroleum gas by means of an electric spark.
Valves- are used in most piston engines to open and close the intake and exhaust ports in the cylinder head.
Piston- transfer force from expanding gas in the cylinder to the crankshaft via a piston rings or connecting rod.
Connecting Rod- transmit either a push or a pull and so the rod may rotate the crank through both halves of a revolution.
Crankshaft- translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation
Water jacket for coolant flow- the water that flows through the engine's water jacket and ports is the fresh water and coolant.

2nd day of oil cleaning

~Today in class we recleaned more oil if it looked like it needed to be filter again. Some of the oil was filtered, but  the paint filter cant catch everything. Now the oil is completely clean so we can mix it with ethethol. Its sa chemical that will be needed to move the bus.
~Also I labeled the liter bottles that will be used for the final fuel. Each student was to bring one so we all have a bottle to put the fuel in. I labeled them so we know whick one is are battle. They are all labeled according to color and period. Everything is very neat so it is easy to get the lab done fast and right.

Cleaning Oil

~Today in class we started cleaning the oil, which we need to use to move the bus. We put the paint filter on top of the empty bucket. Then scooped the oil with stirafoam cups into the empty bucket with the paint filter on top. After that process we repeated it again becuase there were still some materials in the oil.
~What I think we should have changed with cleaning the oil would be using bigger cups or even a large bowl to scoop the oil out and put it through the filter. Also I feel like the paintfilter holes were  to big, so the oil could just go through it. I say just a use a different material to filter the oil.
~But it did seem like we filtered the oil pretty good and now we just have to heat it tomorrow so we make sure that all of the material is out

Cleaning the oil

Hypothesis
~If we make and clean the oil correctly then we can mix it with other chemicals becuase biodiesel isn't just made out of  oil it needs more to make fuel and to move the bus.

Procedure
1)put cheese clothes on top of empty buckets
2)put rubber bands arond buckets and cheese cloths to secure the cloth on the buckets
3)pour the oil through the funnel, through the cheese cloth, into the buckets
4)take off the rubber bands and cheese clothes
5)make sure there are no left behind material in the oil
6)pour the oil into medal pots
7)heat the oil on hot plates to make sure the oil is finally clean to mix with other chemicals

Materials
~cheese cloth
~funnels
~buckets
~rubber bands
~hot plates
~medal pots

Summary of Research

~I know it wont be easy to make this biodiesel. There are many recipes to follow but how do you know which ones will work. The only way to find out is by testing them. It seems that you can use many oils like waste vegetable oil, used cooking oil, fryer grease, animal fats, lard. Then you can mix those oils with Sodium hydroxide, Methanol, Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), Phenolphthalein solution and there is many more other chemicals that you can use but it's hard to find a perfect mixture of them together to make a biodiesel fuel that will move a bus.
~The best way to clean oil is by heating the oil first then filtering it through a filter like a coffee filter should work. After you should see no partles floating. You can repeat this proccess if you think it isn't clean enough