What have we done and learnt:
24/05 Tuesday: We submitted our risk assessment form to Mr Andrew Kon.
25/05 Wednesday: We contacted the chemical suppliers to enquire about the purchasing of methanol and we got bought and received 5 tins of palm oil from Wee Tat Trading Company.
We started our 1st experiment this afternoon. We used 11L of palm oil and 2.5L of sodium methoxide and heated it to 60°C for 1 hour 15 minutes. In addition, we recorded the height of glycerol formed at intervals of 5 minutes after all sodium methoxide has been transferred to the reactor.
We also noticed that the loading tank has a layer of sodium methoxide which is unable to flow into the reactor. This will affect the total amount of sodium methoxide being fed into the reactor. As a result, the reaction would be incomplete and there would probably be unreacted palm oil in the biodiesel product.
26/05 Thursday: We met up with Mr Andrew Kon to report our findings from the experiment yesterday and to submit our critique report. We discussed and decided to run displacement test to account for the unreacted sodium methoxide and to do level marking on the reactor. We also had to remove the glycerol which hardens at the bottom on the reactor. The only thing we could do was to drain it out by poking it with straws. We also washed the biodiesel mixture. Moreover, we also reported what we think should be purchased such as, pails.
27/05 Friday: We did our 2nd experiment with 11L of palm oil and 2.5L of sodium methoxide under the supervision of the seniors. One learning point of the day was to crush the sodium methoxide using the pounder so that the sodium hydroxide pellets and methanol can mix well. However, we did not have enough time to wash the unwashed biodiesel.
After learning our lesson from the hardening of the glycerol, we drained it out so that it would not solidify and clogged the discharge valve. We would then carry out the washing next Monday. Last but not least, we have to plan how to carry out the experiment within the allocated time.
25/05 Wednesday: We contacted the chemical suppliers to enquire about the purchasing of methanol and we got bought and received 5 tins of palm oil from Wee Tat Trading Company.
We started our 1st experiment this afternoon. We used 11L of palm oil and 2.5L of sodium methoxide and heated it to 60°C for 1 hour 15 minutes. In addition, we recorded the height of glycerol formed at intervals of 5 minutes after all sodium methoxide has been transferred to the reactor.
We also noticed that the loading tank has a layer of sodium methoxide which is unable to flow into the reactor. This will affect the total amount of sodium methoxide being fed into the reactor. As a result, the reaction would be incomplete and there would probably be unreacted palm oil in the biodiesel product.
26/05 Thursday: We met up with Mr Andrew Kon to report our findings from the experiment yesterday and to submit our critique report. We discussed and decided to run displacement test to account for the unreacted sodium methoxide and to do level marking on the reactor. We also had to remove the glycerol which hardens at the bottom on the reactor. The only thing we could do was to drain it out by poking it with straws. We also washed the biodiesel mixture. Moreover, we also reported what we think should be purchased such as, pails.
27/05 Friday: We did our 2nd experiment with 11L of palm oil and 2.5L of sodium methoxide under the supervision of the seniors. One learning point of the day was to crush the sodium methoxide using the pounder so that the sodium hydroxide pellets and methanol can mix well. However, we did not have enough time to wash the unwashed biodiesel.
After learning our lesson from the hardening of the glycerol, we drained it out so that it would not solidify and clogged the discharge valve. We would then carry out the washing next Monday. Last but not least, we have to plan how to carry out the experiment within the allocated time.
