Sunday, April 13, 2008

Biodiesel

I did a green chemistry lab with my AP students three years ago which led to us building a 5 gallon biodiesel processor and so much more. In the past year we have been designing a miniature biodiesel processor kit to be available for purchased by schools and others interested in very small scale biodiesel production. The kit would include all of the components necessary to build a biodiesel processor that produces .25 to 1 liter of purified biodiesel fuel from methanol or ethanol, a catalyst, and any natural oil (including used fry oil). The full processor would be able to be mounted to a 3' X 2' board, and would take about an hour to assemble. It recovers unreacted methanol or ethanol and washes and dries the fuel just as an industrial producer would. I have a group of students in a design competition in two weeks with this processor. The purpose of the following survey is to see what kind of interest there is in this type of kit and at what price points. Is alternative energy in your current curriculum ?