Laboratory Experiment

pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

Synthesis and Determination of Biodiesel: An Experiment for High

School Chemistry Laboratory
Jun Yang,, Chunli Xu,*,, Baoxin Li,, Guijia Ren,, and Lu Wang,

Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Shaanxi Normal University, Ministry of Education, Xian 710062, PR
China

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Changan South Road 199, Xian 710062, PR China

Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science of Shaanxi Province, Shaanxi Normal University, Xian, 710062, PR China
*
S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: Biodiesel has gained attention in recent years as a renewable and

environmentally friendly fuel source. A laboratory experiment designed for high school
students is described to study biodiesel production. Under optimum conditions, the time of
running the reaction of biodiesel synthesis was less than a half-hour. Moreover, based on the
dierence in density and solubility of reactants and products in the transesterication, one
visualizing method of detection of biodiesel product was suggested. The results
demonstrated that the visualizing method was simple, quick, and eective in determining
whether biodiesel was produced. This proposed experiment is typically completed in less
than two one-hour laboratory periods, which makes it suitable for a high school chemistry
laboratory.

KEYWORDS: High School/Introductory Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Laboratory Instruction, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives,
Inquiry-Based/Discovery Learning, Biotechnology, Catalysis, Student-Centered Learning, Synthesis

T ransesterication is an important chemical reaction found

in high school textbooks.1 It is the process of exchanging
the organic group R of an ester with the organic group R of
Scheme 2. Production of Biodiesel through
Transesterication

an alcohol (Scheme 1). These reactions are often catalyzed by

Scheme 1. Transesterication between Alcohol and Ester

the addition of an acid or base catalyst. Catalysis, esters,
alcohols, and edible oils are also important topics found in high
school textbooks.2 A simple and interesting experiment is
helpful for high school students to understand this reaction.
Biodiesel is a fashionable topic nowadays because it is
environmentally friendly and is made from renewable
resources.3 Biodiesel is a term applied to a fuel derived from
the transesterication of vegetable oils or animal fats. In the
production of biodiesel, the triglycerides in the fats and oils
react with methanol to make glycerine and methyl esters
(biodiesel) in the presence of a catalyst (Scheme 2). We
describe a biodiesel synthesis that is suitable for high school
students to learn about transesterication, catalysis, esters,
alcohols and edible oil.
There have been several excellent experiments about
biodiesel published for undergraduate students in recent years
that include new and used oil and determination of properties,
2013 American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
such as combustion and viscosity of biodiesel.49 However, to
the best of our knowledge, there is not a laboratory experiment
about biodiesel for high school students. In those published
experiments, instruments, such as gas chromatography,7 IR
spectroscopy,6 thin-layer chromatography,7 and 1H NMR
spectroscopy,5 were used to determine the yield of biodiesel.
Though these methods are accurate, these instruments are
expensive and are typically not available to high school
students. Furthermore, the fundamentals of these instruments
are also unknown to high school students. In addition, these
methods of detection are time-consuming. Therefore, these
methods of instrumental analysis are not suitable for a high
school chemistry laboratory. A simple and quick chemical
experiment is suitable for the education of high school
students.10,11
Published: September 11, 2013
1362 dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed400210r | J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 13621364
Journal of Chemical Education
In this work, a biodiesel synthesis utilizing transesterication
was designed for the high school chemistry laboratory. In the
presence of an active catalyst NaOH, the reaction for biodiesel
synthesis could be completed in 30 min. Referring to the
reaction shown in Scheme 2, the density of reactant methanol
(0.79 g cm3) was lower than that of reactant vegetable oil
(0.9190.925 g cm3), whereas the density of byproduct
glycerol (1.261 g cm3) was higher than that of product
biodiesel (0.850.90 g cm3). Based on the dierence in
density and solubility of reactants and products in the
transesterication, a visualizing method of analysis of the
reaction product was used. As shown in Figure 1, methanol
Figure 1. Photograph of transesterifaction of vegetable oil and
methanol for biodiesel synthesis: (A) before reaction and (B) after
reaction.
oated on triglyceride before reaction, whereas the byproduct
glycerine was below the layer of product biodiesel after
reaction. Through the dierence in appearance of the reaction
system before and after reaction, one can determine whether
biodiesel was produced. This method is simple and quick, and it
is suitable for high school chemistry students.
EXPERIMENT
Chemicals
Vegetable oils are available in supermarkets: sesame oil,
soybean oil, canola oil, peanut oil, olive oil, and so forth.
Methanol and NaOH used were of analytical grade. All reagents
were used without further purication.
Procedure
The catalytic transesterication reaction was carried out under
vigorous magnetic stirring in a round-bottomed ask equipped
with a reux condenser. The reaction was heated by an
electromagnetic heater. Typical reactions were performed with
11.76 mL of vegetable oil and 2.78 mL of methanol (methanol
to vegetable oil molar ratio 6:1) using 1 wt % (catalyst to oil
weight ratio) of NaOH catalyst at methanol reux temperature
(65 C) for 10 min. After cooling, the solution was transferred
to a transparent vial. After standing for 5 min, the interface
between biodiesel layer and glycerol layer was clearly observed.
As shown in Figure 1, formation of biodiesel was analyzed by a
visualizing method. The analysis of product was completed
within 20 min.
To validate its viability, the visualizing method was checked
by 1H NMR spectroscopy. 1H NMR spectroscopy provided the
accurate yield. The NMR spectra of vegetable oil and biodiesel
are shown in Figure S4 (see the Supporting Information). The
instructors obtained the NMR of the products to conrm the
presence of the biodiesel and glycerol. They did not share the
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Laboratory Experiment
spectra with the student to show the dierences between the
two layers. For this instrumental method, the reaction products
were analyzed using the following procedure: The biodiesel
samples were separated from glycerol by centrifugation, with
the separation of glycerol being achieved because it was
insoluble in the esters and had a much higher density. After
removal of methanol residue in vacuo, the product was
dissolved in chloroform-d and the methyl ester could be
determined quantitatively from the NMR spectra using the
method described by Gelbard et al.12
Students worked in groups. The experiment could be divided
into two 50 min sessions. Students run reactions (with and
without catalyst) in the rst session. They repeated the
procedure to investigate dierent oils and the eect of the
catalyst in the second session.
HAZARDS
The vegetable oils purchased in markets are edible. Methanol is
ammable and poisonous so it must be handled with care.
Anhydrous sodium hydroxide is irritant and caustic. In this
work, 1H NMR spectroscopy was used to evaluate the
proposed visualizing method, but not incorporated into the
experiment for high school students. If evaluation of the
product by 1H NMR spectroscopy is incorporated, chloroform-
d is needed. Chloroform-d is poisonous and must by handled
with care.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The yield of biodiesel was aected by reaction variables, such as
the methanol/oil ratio, catalyst amount, or reaction time.13
Under the reaction conditions of catalyst (0.31.0 wt %) and
methanol to vegetable oil molar ratio (6:1), a clear interface
between biodiesel and glycerol was observed at 10 min of
running time (Figure 2). This indicated that reaction time of
transesterication could be reduced to 10 min.
Figure 2. Eect of the catalyst amount (from left to right: 0, 0.3, 0.5,
0.6, 0.8, 1.0 wt %).
The type of vegetable oil was also studied. The vegetable oils
tested were sesame oil, canola oil, and soybean oil. The
photographs show that biodiesel was produced in each case
(Figure 3). One phenomenon observed was the color of the
glycerol layer. Pure glycerol is colorless and transparent;
however, the glycerol layer in the biodiesel system was colored
and not transparent. The glycerol layer contained, besides the
main components of glycerol, minor amounts of methanol
residue, NaOH residue, and sodium salt of fatty acid (soap).
The sodium salt of fatty acid could accumulate colorful
components of oil, which resulted in the color of glycerol
layer.14
dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed400210r | J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 13621364
Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 3. Photographs of reaction system using dierent vegetable oils
as reactants: (A) sesame oil, (B) canola oil, and (C) soybean oil (left,
before reaction; right, after reaction).
The benets of the proposed experiment to students are as
follows:
To train the students in experimental techniques relating
to reux. Biodiesel was synthesized by using a reux
apparatus.
To develop the students ability of applying chemical
knowledge of transesterication.
To stimulate the students interest in chemical research.
Through the proposed experiment, students learn a
method to synthesize biodiesel.
To increase the students understanding about catalysis.
To teach students the concept of density. The proposed
experiment illustrates the visual density dierences in the
starting materials and products.
To increase the understanding of students on the topics
of esters, alcohols, and edible oils. In this experiment,
alcohol and edible oil (ester) are used as both reactants
and products.
CONCLUSIONS
A simple and quick chemical experiment of biodiesel synthesis
for high school students is described. This experiment is helpful
for high school students to understand transesterication,
catalysis, esters, alcohols, and biodiesel. This experiment was
typically completed in less than two hours: a half-hour for
preparation, a half-hour for running the reaction of biodiesel
synthesis, and 20 min for analyzing the product. This
experiment is suitable for a high school chemistry laboratory.
*
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S Supporting Information
Student handout; tables of the equipment and chemicals
needed; procedure and tips for the experiment; answers to
prelab questions. This material is available via the Internet at
http://pubs.acs.org.
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: xuchunli@snnu.edu.cn.
Notes
The authors declare no competing nancial interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank students (Hongyu Liang, Yan Guo, Lan Ma, Shufeng
Ji, Yahong Li, Xinrui Qin, Jiaoyan Xiang, Liming Tan, Xueqin
Zhao) for testing the experiment.
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Laboratory Experiment
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ed400210r | J. Chem. Educ. 2013, 90, 13621364