Investigatory Project In Science 10

Using Cooking Oil As A Biodiesel

Submitted By:

Ralph Adrian Q. De Leon

Sitjar Godrin N. Dabu

Submitted To:

Mr. Rommel C. Cruz

I. Introduction

Our planet is polluted with different substances nowadays that’s why we need to minimize the
pollution as much as we can so we will not destroy our planet and will give the next generations
a beautiful planet that we cared of. As for our investigatory project we chose to use cooking oil
as our main ingredient for the project. Because as we all know, cooking oils are used everday
and mostly used cooking oils are disposed improperly causing bodies of water polluted. Oil
pollution can cause harm to the environment and living animals that live nearby the area. But
used cooking oils are not much of a waste, it can also be recycled in the form of a biodiesel.
Biodiesel that are made of used cooking oil will going to be very helpful in minimizing the
pollution on our planet.

Our reason for choosing used cooking oil is because its easy to find and it contributes to the
pollution on the planet. By using used cooking oil as a biodiesel, we can use a waste product to
be more helpful to the society while lessening the pollution caused. The significance of our study
is to help the environment clean and recycling waste to create a more productive product to the
society.
II. Review of Related Literature

 Cooking Oil - Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and
other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavoring not involving
heat, such as salad dressings and bread dipping like bread dips, and may be called edible
oil.
 Lye (Sodium Hydroxide) - is a metal hydroxide traditionally obtained by leaching ashes,
or a strong alkali which is highly soluble in water producing caustic basic solutions.
 Methanol (Methyl Alcohol) - is the simplest alcohol, consisting of a methyl group
linked to a hydroxyl group. It is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a
distinctive odor similar to that of ethanol (drinking alcohol).
 Blender - a person or thing that mixes things together, in particular an electric mixing
machine used in food preparation for liquefying, chopping, or pureeing.
 Digital Scale - Digital scales work with the use of a strain gauge load cell. Whereas
analog scales use springs to indicate the weight of an object, digital scales convert the
force of a weight to an electric signal.
 Glass Container = means any glass object used to hold water or a beverage, which is
typically used to drink, sip, or eat the beverage from, and which is typically designed to
hold between one and sixteen four-ounce servings.
 Plastic Container = means a container which is designed and intended to hold a
beverage or food product and is manufactured of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-
density polyethylene (HDPE) and other synthetic materials.
 Safety Glasses, Gloves, Apron, etc. – materials or equipment used to ensure safety
while doing work or experiment.
 Phenolphthalein Solution - a white or yellowish-white crystalline compound
C20H14O4 used in analysis as an indicator because its solution is brilliant red in alkalies
and is decolorized by acids and in medicine as a laxative.
Definition of Oil
Oil - a viscous liquid derived from petroleum, especially for use as a fuel or lubricant.

Kinds of Oil
1.Grape Seed Oil 6. Canola Oil (Rapseed Oil)
2. Sesame Oil 7. Olive Oil
3. Avocado Oil 8. Sunflower Oil
4. Almond Oil 9. Peanut Oil
5. Coconut Oil
III. Methodology

1. Obtain used cooking oil. Locate a source for vegetable oil that has been used in cooking.
Contact local fast food restaurants, cafeterias, hotels and other commercial food establishments
to see if you can take their waste oil, or pay a very small fee for it. You may compete with
rendering companies, who also pay restaurants to take used oil off their hands.
2. Examine the oil. Look at the oil you obtain to roughly determine its quality. It should look
darker than fresh or unused vegetable oil, and will likely include small food matter left from the
frying process.
3. Pour your oil into clear plastic containers. Take any transparent plastic jug from juice, soda, or
any other household product and pour your used oil into it for storage.
4. Heat the oil to 95ºF. Pour your used oil into a large, clean cooking pot and heat it to 95ºF over
an electric burner to make the oil easier to pour for filtration. Use a cooking thermometer to
monitor the temperature. Don’t use a gas burner for this or any other stage of the biodiesel
creation process.
5. Use cheesecloth or a coffee filter to pour oil through. Place a piece of cheesecloth or a coffee
filter into a funnel. Place the funnel on top of another clean plastic container labeled “screened
oil” or something similar. Carefully pour the heated oil through this prepared funnel and into the
container to catch large food particles.
6. Reheat the oil to 140ºF. Pour your screened oil back into the cooking pot, after washing out
the pot thoroughly. Return it to the electric burner and heat at a consistent 140ºF for 15 minutes
to allow any water to separate from the oil.
7. Pour the reheated oil into a container to settle. After it has cooled, return the oil to a plastic
container, either the one you used last or a new, clean container labeled “settling oil” or
something similar. Let the oil sit for at least 24 hours to allow the water to further settle to the
bottom of the container.
8. Transfer the oil to a clean container. After settling is complete, pour the oil slowly into a new,
clean container labeled “filtered oil” or something similar, taking care not to pour the settled
water in with the oil.
9. Add oil to isopropyl alcohol. In a separate glass container, pour 1 ml of your filtered oil and 10
ml of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. Warm the mixture gently by placing the container into hot
water, then stir until the mixture is clear.
10. Add phenolphthalein solution. Get phenolphthalein solution from a chemical supplier to use
as a pH indicator, as it visibly turns from clear to pink at a pH level of 8.5, which is the level you
want for creating biodiesel. Add two drops of phenolphthalein to your oil and alcohol mixture.
11. Add 0.1% lye solution to your oil and alcohol mixture. Slowly drip your lye solution into the
container with oil, alcohol, and phenolphthalein. Stir continuously. Stop adding the lye solution
when your mixture achieves a pink or magenta color and holds that color for 15 seconds,
indicating the correct pH level.
12. Ready your main quantity of oil. After you’ve determined the acidity of your oil, you can
complete the rest of the chemical reaction to create biodiesel using your filtered oil, lye, and
methanol.