biodiesel, transesterification, acid, base, methyl esters, glycerol, free fatty acid, NaOH, titration, vegetable oil, Filet O' Fish, renewable, energy, neutralize, catalyze, pH, indicator, turmeric, mols, molarity
Biodiesel fuel is created from vegetable oil through a chemical process called transesterification. Unfortunately, the transesterification reaction is sensitive to the presence of free fatty acids that are prevalent in used vegetable oils. The levels of free fatty acids can be determined through a process called acid/base titration. A titration is a way of determining the concentration of a substance by adding a known concentration of a reagent to it until we is seen an effect.
In this activity your students will perform an acid/base titration to determine the molarity of free fatty acids in a waste vegetable oil solution.
Upon completion of The Biodiesel Lab students will be able to:
Pre-Laboratory
Laboratory
Post-Laboratory
