Starting from 21/07/2014 to 7th August 2014

Day 1(21/07/2014) (Lesson 1)

Alicia- We completely filtered out the wasted oil and mixed it with the methanol and lye mixture.
We were not prepared for the fact that methanol was actually a solid pellet. Therefore in order to
speed up the process, we forcefully dissolved the methanol into the sodium hydroxide, instead
of waiting for diffusion to happen. Hence, the oil we used did not react with the oil at all, and it
just became foamy like soap.

Lakshitha - Today, we started on our experiment earlier than others as we already know we
knew what to do, which materials to do with and how to conduct the experiment. During our first
experiment using vegetable oil, we were unable to dissolve the sodium
hydroxide pellets (solid form) into the methanol (liquid form). To dissolve
those sodium hydroxide pellets at that moment, we added water. As a result
of adding water, we could not obtain the intended results which was to
obtain the two different layers: biodiesel and glycerin. A possible reason
could be that a chemical reaction could not take place from what I
reasearched on http://www.answers.com/topic/chemical-equilibrium. After the first
experiment, we moved on to the second experiment in which before starting
the experiment, Ms Su managed to dissolve the sodium hydroxide pellets
(solid form) into the methanol (liquid form) but it takes one day to completely
dissolve. We managed to complete our second experiment (on Friday, 18th
July 2014) successfully as we achieved two different layers in those four
different separating funnels with two different types of results: One with clear
biodiesel and one with little cloudy biodiesel. From that experiment, we
learned that the amount of mixture and the oil tested should be standard in
order to obtain fair results. We also tried to filter the wasted oil which we bought from our own
canteen store by placing the filter paper on the opening of the 2000ml beaker and took it 3 days
to filter all the oil which was poured in.

Misu-In order to get biodiesel,chemical reaction is the most important part.
The chemicals involved in our experiments are sodium hydroxide/lye and methanol.
At first,we could not dissolve sodium hydroxide pellets into the methanol.
So we have to pour water to dissolve them.However, we could not get the biodiesel.
In the end,Ms Su was able to dissolve sodium hydroxide pellets into the methanol completely
and we could get the biodiesel. It was slightly cloudy and there were impurities too.
From todays experiment,I learnt that we cant just mix the two chemicals but we have to find the
correct ratio(4:1) in order to dissolve the sodium hydroxide into the methanol.Also,100 ml of this
mixture is best to produce the biodiesel.




Shirley - Ms Su helped us to find a method to dissolve the methanol and lye(sodium hydroxide)
by leaving the solution in a bottle overnight. This way, the mixture will be very pure. Then, we
proceeded to testing of different types of oil. We did the experiment with the wasted oil and
other types of oil. The same type of oil was used several time to for constancy. Then, we left our
biodiesel in the fume hood overnight for it to separate.


Panoramic View of setting up our experiment






















Day 2(23/07/14,Wed) (Lesson 2)

Alicia- Today we made a test with olive oil. The olive oil was less thick in consistency. After 30
minutes, the separation between the biodiesel and glycerin could already be seen. The
biodiesel obtained from olive oil is much lighter compared to the other vegetable and wasted
cooking oil which we tested with.

Lakshitha - Today, we actually started the experiment testing with the olive oil (Premium) after
obtaining the biodiesel from wasted oil. As there was a question raised earlier on 9th of July
during group discussion : How do we test the biodiesel created and what do we need to test for,
we decided that we will be doing pH Value test to test the quality. But today, Ms Su informed us
another way to test the efficiency(quality) of the biodiesel obtained was to conduct the
calorimetry test in which we will be able to burn off the biodiesel obtained and take note of the
duration of the different of oils burn off completely as a result of finishing all the biodiesel oil. We
also wanted to buy the strainer as it would be easier to filter the wasted oil in a short time.

Misu-We learned a new way to test the efficiency of biodiesel.
Ms Su told us that we can test it by observing the time taken for biodiesel to burn.
Basically,we just have to pour the biodiesel into the cover and observe the time taken for the
flames to last.
This method is useful because it is simpler than the experiments that weve found in the internet
such as litmus paper and hydrometer.
However,it will take longer time than these two experiments.

Shirley- Our oil from the previous session was successful, the separation between the glycerin
and biodiesel was clear. We separated the glycerin and biodiesel, putting them in different
containers and beakers. Then, Ms Su suggested a way that we could test the constancy of the
different types of biodiesel. Overview, we will use biodiesel to lit up a fame which would be use
to boil the water. We will see how long can the fame last and the temperature of the water.












Day 3(24/07/14,Thurs) (Lesson 3)

Alicia- The olive oil was able to produce biodiesel, with the same procedures applied. When we
were swirling the conical flask to evenly mix the oil and sodium methoxide mixture, we did not
take note that the glass conical flask would expand due to heat from the oil. Therefore, we had
trouble taking out the stopped later. Also, we have to be more cautious when we are handling
the mixture as it is very corrosive.

Lakshitha - Today, we successfully obtained biodiesel
from the olive oil (Premium). Two unlucky incidents
occurred. One was that I broke a 250ml beaker
carelessly as I was adjusting the placement of the
beakers. I learned that I should be even more aware
of myself in order to prevent this type of incident.
Luckily, the beaker was empty and not filled with any
oils, thus preventing wasting of time cleaning and
resources. The red coloured conical flask stopper got
stuck inside conical flask as a result of the expansion
of air in conical flask due to high temperature of the
olive oil. We used the two tweezers to get the stopper
out. As a result of applying too much force, the
tweezers were bent badly. The lesson learnt from
this is that we should be aware of the different reactions to the temperature of the boiled oil.

Misu-Firstly,we were able to extract biodiesel from olive oil.This experiment is significant as it
proves that the biodiesel can be extracted from premium oil too.
So now in total we have 4 beakers of biodiesel from vegetable oil,3 from wasted oil and 1 from
olive oil.We decide to use these 3 types of oil for efficiency test as we cannot get biodiesel from
lard.
However,during the experiment,the red stopper stuck inside the conical flask and we had to
spend more than 30 minutes to take it out.
Next time,when we shake our mixture,we must not press the stopper too hard or else it will
stuck again.

Shirley- I learned to be careful in the lab. Plan before doing anything and do not do things in a
rush. Especially when we care handling oil and glass beakers, it might get slippery. Therefore,
we need to take caution on the things we do. Today, the stopper got stuck in the conical flask
again. Unlike the other times, the stopper is slowly falling inside of the conical flask. As the heat
from the oil allowed the opening of the conical flask to expand, the stopper was slowly slipping
its way into the conical flask. After a while of us (my teammates and I) trying extremely hard to
get the stopper out, it was not working. We had force the stopper out of the conical flask before
it slip into it and destroy the quality of our oil. Then, I came up with this idea whereby we use 2
twisters.
Day 4(30/07/14,Wed) (Lesson 4)
Alicia- We did a consistency test with wasted oil. The set up was like this. We had trouble
clipping the apparatus in place as we seldom had to use a stand for our science experiments. I
felt that as a student who takes science, I should have been able to figure out how the stand
and its clippers work. Our group spent quite a lot of time trying to arrange
the apparatus in place and also making sure that the distance between the
calorimetry test tube enough for the flame to reach the test tube.


Lakshitha - Today, we conducted the calorimetry test with wasted oil. As
this is our first time, we learnt that we should record our timings and
temperatures regularly in order to prevent unnecessary mistakes. We did
achieve results which was quite satisfying.

Misu-I realised that different oils produce different amount of glycerin.The
glycerin from wasted oil(90 degree Celsius) is the darkest and the amount
of glycerin from vegetable oil(20ml) is the least.Although we have not
carried out the efficiency test, we can get most amount of biodiesel from
the vegetable oil(40ml). There is also a distinctive difference in colours
between the glycerin and the biodiesel. The colour of glycerin is dark
brown while the colour of biodiesel is yellowish brown.

Shirley- Today, we did the constancy testing. The test was successful, we
recorded the timing and the temperature without any accidents happening
like breaking the breaker or something like that, which was great.







Day 5(31/07/14,Thurs) (Lesson 5)

Alicia- The plastic beaker melted due to a chemical reaction with methanol. All of our biodiesel
were leaked and we had to redo the experiment. In the beginning of our storage of biodiesel, we
did not take note that plastic will be reactive with the biodiesel, due to methanol present in
biodiesel, the plastic melted.

Lakshitha - Today was a disastrous day in the lab for our group. Most of our materials were
soaked in the oil. The surface was oily too. This was the result of the leaking plastic
containers. A few days before we actually switched our oils from the glass beakers to the plastic
containers. Due to the interaction of oils with the plastic material of the container, the plastic
broke down and melted. Despite the fact that we discussed about this issue (The containing of
the oil) during our first lab session and concluding to not to use plastic containers, we placed it
the plastic containers unknowingly. The result was extremely bad that we lost all our converted-
into biodiesels and other materials which were yet to be used. Moreover, though there were
leftover oils, they had plastic melted and mixed into them. We were very disappointed upon our
mistake. So, we willing be redoing the whole experiment sometime later. This whole session
was used to cleaning up the mess. We thank Ms Su for helping us to clear up the place.

Misu-Last week,we poured all our biodiesel into the plastic beaker to keep it clean and air-
tight.However,we forgot that the methanol inside the biodiesel could react with the plastic.
The result was disastrous as all the beakers were broken and all our hard work were gone.
Simply,the methanol reacted with plastic to melt the containers.So all the containers were stuck
on the table.
Unfortunately,we could not use the leftover oil anymore because it could have reacted with the
plastic.
We might have to repeat the experiments again.


Shirley- When we came back to the lab after a few days, the worst thing possible happened.
The oil leaked all over the place because we used plastic containers instead of glass beakers.
Misu did research and told us that plastic will react with the chemicals we are using at the start
of our experiment. Now, all our oil cannot be use as they are no longer pure biodiesel (plastic
melted in the oil)








Day 6 (4/08/14,Mon) (Lesson 6)

Alicia- We did a consistency test with the olive oil and vegetable oil biodiesel. We decided to
test the consistency with the calorimetric test. We made a hypothesis that the olive oil would
burn longer than the vegetable oil. The results proved that our hypothesis was correct. I think
the reason for the biodiesel obtained from olive oil burning the longest is that the quality of the
olive oil is better than the quality of vegetable oil.

Lakshitha - Today, we redid the the whole experiment to biodiesel from vegetable oil and olive
oil. Surprisingly this time, we were able to finish our experiment at a faster pace and without
having silly mistakes like in previous experiments. After obtaining the biodiesel from vegetable
oil and olive oil, we conducted the calorimetry test. We realised that biodiesel obtained from
olive oil burnt for the longest time but its starting temperature and temperature when it burnt out
was nearly equivalent to vegetable oil. Though the biodiesel obtained from vegetable oil need
not last long, its temperature after the experiment was higher than that of the biodiesel obtained
from olive oil. But after a long discussion, we concluded the quality of the biodiesel obtained
from olive oil is better than the quality biodiesel obtained from vegetable. We will be obtaining
biodiesel from wasted oil again tomorrow.

Misu-We made new biodiesel from vegetable oil and olive oil. It took shorter time compared to
the previous experiments because we were very clear what to do. Then, we carried on with our
efficiency tests. The results showed that the olive oil burnt for the longer time than the vegetable
oil. However, we still have to wait for the results from the wasted oil.

Shirley- We had to make new biodiesel as the ones we made in our previous sections are all
destroyed. As we only had vegetable oil and olive oil, we made biodiesel out of those 2 types of
oil first. Then, we did our efficiency test. The olive oil burnt longer than I expected. We plan to
do the testing again as the results and our hypothesis does not match.
















Day 7 (6/08/14,Wednesday) (Lesson 7)

Alicia- Due to the loss of our biodiesels, we decided to do obtain biodiesel from wasted oil
again. This time we did not filter the wasted oil which we got from the canteen store, and
therefore when the oil was separated into glycerin and biodiesel, the biodiesel had a stickier and
thicker consistency than the rest of the oils we used.

Lakshitha - Today, we obtained biodiesel from the wasted oil (leftover oil from cooking) from our
school canteen store. When we were retrieving the biodiesel obtained from the wasted oil
(leftover oil from cooking), we realised that we forgot to filter out the particles impurities in the
wasted oil (leftover oil from cooking). We were able to find this out observing that glycerin
actually harden. Later, we conducted calorimetry test on wasted oil (leftover oil from cooking).

Misu-We made new biodiesel from wasted oil (from canteen). Although we could get the
biodiesel successfully,we realised that we had forgotten to filter the impurities.
Fortunately,we used the fresh hot wasted biodiesel so there were not too many impurities.
Then, we carried on with our efficiency test. Even though we could not repeat the experiments
several times due to time constraint, we could be able to derive to the result that the olive oil is
the best oil to produce biodiesel.

Shirley- As we were unprepared, we could only get limited amount of used cooking oil from the
canteen stores as the store which always prepares used oil for us only have cooking oil on
wednesdays. However, we forgotten to filter our wasted oil. We did the efficiency test again and
olive oil still burned for a long time, which leads me to wonder if our hypothesis was wrong.


















Day 8 (7/08/14, Thur) (Lesson 8)

Alicia- I compiled all the pictures and videos taken during the experiment, and our group started
writing our report. Gathering our thoughts and putting them into one report is rather challenging
as over the past few weeks spent in the lab, we had a lot of information in our head. We learnt
how to do up tables for a report, and also that we have to label whatever diagram or table we
place in the report. We were contemplating on how to conclude that our hypothesis was proven
wrong.

Lakshitha - Today, we started on our final report. When we were adding all sorts of information,
I realised that we could done more experiments as our data was just nice to write about our
experiment. We also started on our poster and video. Later, while Misu was researching she
shared with us that actually olive oil isnt the ideal oil used to obtain biodiesel as it was unstable
and expensive too. When concluding our experiment, it really difficult to come with a solution for
our conclusion so we discussed more on that today.

Misu- Today we started writing the written report. Although we could get the results and the
data, I realised that we need more data to support our results. Our results showed that the
(unused) olive oil is the best oil to produce the biodiesel. However, according to our research,
olive oil is very unstable to produce biodiesel. But its the wasted olive oil that is suitable for
biodiesel production.

Shirley- I started on the video edit today while my groupmates did some parts of the report .
Alicia send me all the videos and photos taken during ISS session. Then, Misu did some
research and she found out that olive oil is actually the best oil that can be used to make
biodiesel, however due to the price and other constraints, some researcher found a better
alternative, used cooking oil. Therefore, we proved that our hypothesis is wrong.

Day 9 (15/08/14,Fri) (Lesson 9)

Alicia- Having finished the experiments, and we started to tidy up the lab area. We finished all
our reflections and I tidied up the blog.

Lakshitha - Today, it is the last day in our lab. We tidied up the area we used in the lab. I am
glad that we were able to conclude our experiments within the time limit. Thanks to every lab
assistant who helped us, Ms Su and Ms Lim for their guiding during the lab experimentation
journey. Now, back to work.

Misu- Its the last day in the lab. All of our experiments have ended. We had to clean up the
place.

Shirley- We finished our experiments and we had to clean up the mess we have made.
Especially the surfaces where we spilled our oil.