11 November 2007 Journal of Chemical Education 1765
Chemical Education Today Biodiesel from Used Oil Within the past few years biofuels have captured a consid- erable amount of interest among the public. Biodiesel fueled cars and trucks have toured the country and been featured in many stories in both the print and broadcast news media. Te production and use of biodiesel have increased exponentially over the last decade. Recently three papers have appeared in this Journal (13) discussing the properties of these fuels and their production from biological oils, either new or used. With fresh oils the procedures found in the papers cited above and those given on several web sites (see ref 4 and links posted there) yield clean biodiesel samples. Environmental issues suggest the use of used fryer oils in making biodiesel. However, extensively used oils can cause problems with emulsion forma- tion. Students in our laboratories occasionally encounter a single, stable emulsion where two phases are expected afer the transesterifcation reaction. In the second run of a small biodiesel production plant at our university, a signifcant emulsion layer formed that required many washings to remove and signifcantly reduced the yield. Used fryer oil typically contains both water and free fatty acids at levels that depend on how heavily this oil has been used. Commercially these fatty acids are removed by acid-catalyzed esterifcation (5) early in the process. On smaller scales making biodiesel from used oil is typically preceded by a titration to determine the amount of fatty acids present and an appropri- ate correction is made to the amount of base added. When the base is added the fatty acids are neutralized and produce natural soap. Water may also compete with methanol in the transesteri- Letters fcaiton reaction and make additional soap. While I have never sampled the emulsions produced by my students to determine the emulsifying agent, it is my belief that this soap is that agent. Supporting this assertion is the fact that the emulsion produced by our universitys reactor could be separated by washing with diluted vinegar. Tis protonates the fatty acids, removing their surfactant capabilities and destabilizing the emulsion. We will frustrate students if we do not discuss why labora- tory scale productions of biodiesel from used oil may produce signifcant amounts of emulsion. I intend to have my next envi- ronmental chemistry class develop a modifed procedure for pro- ducing biodiesel involving vinegar washings where necessary. Literature Cited 1. Clarke, N. R; Casey, J. P; Brown, E. D; Oneyma, E; Donaghy, K. J. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 257. 2. Akers, S. M; Conkle, J. L; Tomas, S. N; Rider, K. B. J. Chem. Educ. 2006, 83, 260262. 3. Bucholtz, E. C. J Chem. Educ. 2007, 84, 296298. 4. Alternative Fuels Data Center: Biodiesel. http://www.eere.energy. gov/afdc/altfuel/biodiesel.html (accessed Aug 2007). 5. Ascendant Partners. http://www.ascendantpartners.com/Biodiesel/ Summary.aspx (accessed Aug 2007). Roland Stout Department of Chemistry and Physics University of North Carolina Pembroke Pembroke, NC 28372-1510 roland.stout@uncp.edu