CREATING BIO-DIESEL FROM DIFFERENT OILS

Turning vegetable oil into usable bio-diesel was originally an idea conceived to help people in third world countries make bio-diesel in the most rudimentary way possible. By only using four simple ingredients, it was our hope to produce a cheap product that could provide fuels to those who have limited access and resources. The beauty of bio-diesel is the versatility of its creation. Bio-diesel can be produced from waste oils, animal fat, vegetable oils, and tallow. This complex transformation occurs through a unique process called base-catalyzed transesterification. Throughout the process, an alcohol and triglyceride are reacted with sodium hydroxide. This produces the bio-diesel and a crude glycerol. 

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Although the reaction will typically not proceed unless very high purity alcohols are used, our research focused on analyzing the quality of bio-diesel produced using lower concentrations of alcohol. Since this project is aimed at creating bio-diesel from natural materials in third world countries, it is our ultimate goal to simplify the process to limit room for error and increase efficiency.