Biodiesel Essay

5937 Words24 Pages
Chemistry Extended Essay Title: Preparation of Biodiesel Research Question: How does the amount of catalyst used and molar ratio of alcohol to oil affect the quality and amount of biodiesel prepared from fresh domestic coconut oil? Word Count: 3259 Name: Paridhi Maheshwari Candidate Number: 002198-0024 Session: May 2014 ABSTRACT This essay focuses on addressing the question “How does the amount of catalyst used and molar ratio of alcohol to oil affect the quality and amount of biodiesel prepared from fresh domestic coconut oil?” This research analyzes and evaluates the process of preparing biodiesel. This is done by varying alcohol to oil ratio and the amount of catalyst used to produce the maximum yield and high quality of biodiesel. The process used to prepare biodiesel is called transesterificaton. The controlled variables in the reaction were the temperature and time of the reaction. The reaction mixture of every sample was heated at 650 C and stirred for 1 hour. Each of the six samples represents variance in either alcohol to oil ratio, of 3:1, 4:1 and 6:1 or proportion of catalyst, 0.5% and 1%. After separating the layers and carrying out a methyl ester wash, the yield of samples of biodiesel was measured and the samples were tested for quality. The essential parameters like viscosity index and density were analyzed by changing the independent variables. As the alcohol to oil ratio increases, the yield increased from 51.9% to 93.6% while the viscosity index decreased from 4.82 to 3.62 mm s-2 and the density decreased from 999 to 876.3 kg m-3. The amount of catalyst had a minor effect on the yield of biodiesel. Higher yield was obtained with higher catalyst concentration. An unusual trend in the viscosity index was obtained with higher catalyst concentration. As the alcohol to oil ratio increases from 3:1 to 4:1 to 6:1, the viscosity index changed
Open Document