[Noname16]

Okay, so i got this independent research experiment i got to come up with on everything.

My professor encourage me to do something towards making biodiesel. So i figure i'll do a research paper on that.

MY question to all you chemists out there:

What should i do with biodiesel? I'm definately going to make it for sure, but i want to compare it with something else. So i was thinking of doing a which is better comparison between SVO vs Biodiesel.

Do you guys have any advise? I was thinking of running a few characteristic tests between the 2 but other than that i don't know what else to do.

I have at my disposal in the lab, a bomb calorimeter, IR, NMR, GC, HPLC, AA and etc.

I need ideas on how to formulate my goals (i also need goals too lol) and what i want to aim for. Can you guys share with me what i should set my goals for?

Thanks guys

[billnotgatez]

did you do some googling
I found lots of stuff a while ago when i was looking

do you understand experimental design with controls

can you detect BTUs or the equivalent metric using you equipment
what other things can you detect using your equipment

What do you think about comparing with commercial petrochemical diesel

what properties do the following have that are different
SVO
Bio-diesel
petrochemical diesel
other fuels

[408]

Uh, maybe run a car on it?

Bomb calorimetry will be useful for combustion energy and comparison with diesel, the rest are only useful for purity determination. 

[billnotgatez]

i think there are other properties to consider but what 408 said is true

for instance can you test viscosity to mention just one

[Noname16]

interesting, thanks guys.
I will definitely do the bomb calorimetry to test the combustion between the two. I'll do viscosity test to determine which is better for engine usage (but it's pretty obvious biodiesel is less viscous). And i guess i'll do a few purity test. THough i would like more ideals to compare between the two.

[408]

Biodiesel is very cheap to make litres of at a time.  Just make 10L or so, and borrow someones diesel vehicle and go at it. 

Numerical comparisons are fine and valid, but even a proof of concept effort (ie run a car) helps to convince skeptics that it indeed does work.  And get the A or whatever you are looking for.

I did this sort of thing all the time in areas like LEDs...

[billnotgatez]

I think you would get issues with using bio-desiel or SVO in cold weather

There are several sites out there that talk about the issues

[PolymerKnowHow]

I think you would get issues with using bio-desiel or SVO in cold weather

There are several sites out there that talk about the issues

You could prepare FAMEs from various raw material sources (soy, rapeseed, palm, etc.) and then measure the temperature at which they crystallize.

[narin]

i came across some articles in the journal of chemical education (Vol. 88 No. 2 February 2011) page 195,197 and 201 hopefully they're applicable

[hobobot]

Try to measure the adiabatic flame temperature and compare it with theoretical results.
It's pretty easy to calculate. Here's a good website: http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/node111.html

If the measured adiabatic flame temperature is less than your theoretical results it might be due to pollutants. You could test the pollutants with all those cool tools you have in your lab.

The reason I suggest measuring the adiabatic flame temperature is because engineers use it all the time when building engines. So it would be pretty useful.

Other combustion-related buzzwords you could look up include: energy of ignition, minimum/maximum fuel mixtures, droplet burning rates (useful for fuel-injection engines), and boiling points.