www.JCE.DivCHED.org Vol. 84 No.

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