In the biodiesel reaction project at Science Leadership Academy we are creating a video explianing out process and what our engineering class does. Some of the activities i have taken part in with the biodisel project consists of, caulking, cutting sheet metal, mesurements, and brianstorming different ideas. With the combind minds minds of the two advance engineering classes we were able to find correct mesurments, flow rates and build a proto type of what will be an inexpensive flow process to create biodeisel. We hope to paten this plan and procedure, and introduce it to farrmers and hopefully the public only at the cost of which is used to produse the fuel rather than making a profit.

Title: Why is biodiesel a cleaner fuel source? ☺
Alison and Yousuf: (act like we are building the reactor)
Robert: Hey what are you guys building?
Yousuf: We are building a biodiesel reactor.
Robert: Oh, what are you building one of those for?
Alison: We’re building it so we can make cleaner fuel.
Robert: (confused) Wait, how is biodiesel a cleaner fuel source?
Alison: There are many reasons as to why biodiesel is a cleaner fuel source. The main reason is that it is a green fuel, meaning that it is good for the environment.
Robert: I still don’t understand.
Alison: Here we’ll explain…Biodiesel can be made out of anything with fat in it, such as; soybeans, corn, algae, tallow trees, and fryer grease. This is good because we can grow the materials and make the biodiesel in America. Which means we’ll no longer have to rely on foreign oil. And that means that gas pump and heating oil prices will go down.  For the first time ever the United States has gotten foreign aid to help pay for heating oil in the winter. And we can make our biodiesel out of fryer grease which is even better. This serves two purposes; One that it gets ride of the fryer grease and two we get a clean fuel source to run cars and generators on.
Robert: So we can use all the grease left over from the fast food places to make fuel and we don’t have to pay huge amounts of money?
Yousuf: Exactly! It’s a win-win. The fast food places get rid of their oil and we get cheaper fuel saving us billions of dollars. Also it means we control our energy. If we control our energy we’ll control our future.
Alison: Also since the biodiesel can be made from waste products we don’t need to use the crops we use for food to make our fuel, which companies are doing now to make ethanol. That would also stop the problem of the increase in food prices and the demand for more farming land.
Robert: This looks hard to build though.
Alison: No, it is actually quite simple to build, it can actually be made at home with simple materials, like sheet metal and pipes from a hard ware store. One reactor can be made at the price of about $150. So it takes a little start up cost, but after that you make money because you won’t have to buy fuel at the gas pump. Another thing, by making biodiesel at home, the fule won’t have to be transported.
Robert: So why does it matter that fuel would not have to be transported?
Yousuf: It matters because if the fuel does not have to travel as far then there would be lower emissions from the transportation of the fuel.
Alison: Also not only will there be less emissions from transportation, but Biodiesel has lower emissions when it is burnt compared to other types of fuels. The CO2 levels are much lower than both gas and diesel and yet it has almost as much energy as diesel. Also biodiesel has no sulferdioxide emissions. This means more miles per gallon and fewer emissions when using biodiesel compared to other fuels.  
Intro: Biodiesel is a cleaner fuel source
2: Renewable resource – kitchen grease oil
3: easy to produce- home made reactors
4: lower emissions – compared to diesel but close to same energy
5: less traveling- made at home
6: compare biodiesel to other sources of energy
7: not taking away from food – making food cheaper or no increes
conclusion:
Diesel is getting expensive
Why is it cleaner?

Stuff

    In our Advanced Engineering class, our teacher Mr. Van Kouwenberg had assigned us to make biodiesel. We had to draw up the blueprints, find materials, build the model, register for a patent on the design, and finally make the biodiesel using our design. We began building the biodiesel during November 2007. Mr. VK (Van Kouwenberg) split our class up into groups and assigned each group an area of the model to work on. My partner Mithun and I worked on the settling tanks. Cutting out the shape, molding the pieces to fit together, connecting the funnel to the bottom and such. Mithun and I did this for both for the large settling tanks and worked partially on the methanoic acid tank.

    We began this project so that cheaper, efficient, and cleaner fuel would be available to the world. This design would especially benifit South and Central America and developing countries. 

The use of settling tanks to separate the different solids and liquids that will be used for the Biodiesel. In this Biodiesel project, two settling tanks will be used. One for the solids and one for the liquids. In a settling tank, the substance(s) with the highest density will sink to the bottom of the tank, while the less dense materials will stay higher. Through this process, the chemical mixtures that will be used for the biodiesel will be separated from each other. The denser chemicals will be separated from the less dense chemicals, and pure substances can be obtained.

1. The use of a flow process to produce biodiesel. A continuous method of producing the alternative fuel and purifying in it so that there is never a period of rest during the process. This process is more effective than a bathc process because it requires no time to stop and make changes, etc.

2. The order in which the tanks and materials were set up. A set order of where each part will be during the process in relation to the other parts. When each part of the process comes into use and where the substances inside the parts will be transferred is specifically set up.

16. The use of a jamming piece in the main container for the biodiesel. This is the small container with a sliding/hinged component that will allow the separation of lye from biodiesel. First, the lye will sink from the main container into the smaller container with the jamming piece because the lye is denser. Then, the jamming piece slides into place and keeps the biodiesel separated from the lye. Through the use of this component, the biodiesel that is produced from this process can be pure.

When Mr. Vank talked to us about the bio-diesel, none of us knew what it was. But then, as time passed by, we started to comprehend what bio-diesel is. We researched on the Internet how to make it and made up a list with all the procedures in order to actually produce this kind of combustible.
After a while Mr. VK explained to us that we weren’t going to make bio-diesel in the well-known way, which creates poor quality fuel. He described the “flow process”, a better method, which thanks to it, the BD is more efficient and effective. After that class, things started to get serious.
We created a series of blueprints, each of them representing the actual bio-diesel machine. We spent a lot of time in doing this. There was just another thing to do before acting practically: pricing all the component of the BD device. Mr. VK kind of “pressured” us in order to do it well. In fact we did it very accurately, counting every needed penny.
Finally it was time to get the stuff and build the bio-diesel implement. Now we are still working on it, by folding sheet of aluminum, cutting metal and bending tubes.
I didn’t imagine this project would have become so big: we found a way to improve the bio-diesel and we are actually building the machine. That’s just incredible. I hope our contribution will encourage other schools in order to research other environmentally friendly combustibles.

    The overall work done so far on the Bio-Diesel Reactor project has been quite a voyage. The knowledge gained from this project has been a vast sea. Not only have I learned about the constructivist, environmental and engineering aspects of building a Bio-Diesel reactor, but I have also learned about inquiry driven work and independent study.
    The first steps of this project included figuring out how to make Bio-Diesel and then figuring out how to convert it from a “batch process” to a “flow process”. The difference between the two is easiest to determine when explained in a metaphor. Imagine baking cookies. You can make a batch of cookies and bake them in an oven, or you could have them being made in a factory and coming out on conveyor belts. The cookies being made in a factory will produce a lot more at a quicker speed. That is a flow process.
    Once we discovered independently how the process of making Bio-Diesel could be converted to a quicker, more efficient process, then the collaboration started. More on that in the next post.

    Well when we started this class back in September my immediate though was i should have picked art or maybe even digital video. It took me awhile to realize what would actually I had been getting myself into. After the first week of classes, I began to realize that my point of view on this class had changed. No longer did I think that I would like to be somewhere else ,but now i had realized what great I could do. After all that i had seen and did i could could create something great for a not only local problem but a global one. As the days began to progress more and more the possibility of building this became a reality. About a month into this project we were working on blueprints for different for all of the parts of the machine.  At that time was the time i realized that this was real and if we messed it wasn’t something where we could just start over we actually had someone depending on us other than just my teacher's hope of the project but we had real everyday living people, and once we realized that. That is when we began to propel in our work habits. 

Our 10th grade engineering classes at Science Leadership Academy(SLA) are currently trying to complete a project where we will design and manage flow process of biodiesel. If this roject works, then we will be able to easily create the alternative fuel at a steady rate and maybe be able to revolutionize the concept of providing your car with a fuel that won't be so harmful to the environment. So far, we at SLA have finished the design and acquired the materials needed to create the flow process. Now, we are putting the materials together to make the parts for the process, and testing the parts to see if they will fulfill their purpose. For example, my group, the Biodiesel Production group, is testing the settling tank to see if any liquids will leak from it and whether or not denser liquids will sink to the lower section of the tank. This whole project is being overseen by our engineering teacher, Mr. VanKouwenberg. The other groups are doing their parts for the project and testing what needs to be tested as well. At the rate our classes are going, the flow process could be up and running in February or March. It looks good so far. There were, however, some problems encountered. For example, one complication was that the settling tank needed cauking to seal it's holes and the right adhesive to attach the guiding parts so that liquid will come out of the tank. Another complication was that several of the metal parts for the process needed welding together and we didn't have the proper tools, so the parts need to be taken to the Franklin Institute for proper welding. But all in all, the project is going very well, and it will more than likely end up as a success.