I was reading up on algae fuel and how to make it. I got to the part where you extract the oil. But how do you makebit usable? I'm guessing you can't just stick oil directly into you car.
I found this http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistryhowtoguide/a/makebiodiesel.htm Can this biodiesel be used in a normal car? Diesel is different from normal gas isn't it? I'm new to this stuff
According.to this http://www.starttogogreen.com/alternate-energy/can-your-car-use-biodiesel The answer is no. How.do.you convert biodiesel into gasoline?
I've made Bio Diesel in an organic chem lab before. You cannot use in you car no. You cannot convert bio-diesel into gasoline either, that I am aware of. The set up requires some KOH,methanol, isopropyl alcohol and phenolpthalien indicator- not terribly hard to get stuff. Refluxing under heat and whatnot turned it into bio-diesel. Basically what happens is you take fatty leftover oils that contain free fatty acids and glycerol, and you run an esterification reaction on it yielding biodiesiel. It requires some lab tools though and the technique is somewhat difficult and time consuming so i dont recommend trying it at home.
Agreed with Hudini. Conversion of long chain fatty acids to something you put in your car is not possible. This would require cleavage of very stable aliphatic carbon-carbon bonds, an unfavourable reaction.
A diesel car will run on used chip pan fat- this is fact I've seen people use it and it stinks . Runs almost better than diesel too.
Thanks for the replies. So I guess if you were to make.it at home it would be small ammounts for like diesel scooters? LOL
BTW I hate that idea that chemestry is hard and shouldn't be done at home. This is a very new age idea. What happened to innovative American do it yerselfers?
I think it's a great idea not to do chemistry labs at home, sort of like going base jumping after watching a stunt show on TV isn't a good idea either. Many reactions done even in an undergrad chem labs require poisonous, corrosive and flammable chemicals, high heat and/or pressure and give off fumes that will kill you. In a lab setting, this is usually pretty simple and safe using proper glassware, fume hoods, heat sources, flame proof cabinets, supervision, etc...but ffs doing such things in your kitchen with basic kitchenware and no training beyond the internet is a horrible idea. Because people can make meth in their home "safely" is no suggestion that chemistry can be done at home...making meth is a pretty simple chemical process if done in a lab setting and pales in comparison to the danger posed in other common lab reaction setups. I mean, do you think doing this in your house is a good idea? (thanks neurosis...i really liked this picture )
I don't condone doing things your not qualified/eqquiped to do. And obviously you can't do everything at home. Rocket ships are definatly out of the question But there is no reason an educated person can't make his own lab for certain projects
I couldn't agree more. That's why folks typically go through 1-2 decades of training before attempting to start their own lab.
I agree with chiefton, although I have always been eager to do things at home. Sadly, there are severe restrictions on what you can do at home, but that doesn't limit everything. Things I've done at home were modest experiments, but fun nevertheless. Three memorable home experiments: Boiling red cabbage and then straining it out, to use the liquid as a pH indicator. Dropping a bunch of galvanized nails into a bottle of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid, and collecting the resulting hydrogen in balloons - to create fireballs. Making castile soap with olive oil and lye.
Hydrogen balloons are fun to blow up. We made HHO gas at my old job and blew shit up on a consistent basis. We even took the ignition from a grill and rigged it so we could blow up garbage bags full of gas from a safe distance. Shit is loud..
It's an organic/medicinal chemistry research lab, so it doesn't really "produce". Most reactions are small scale (5mg-100mg) going up to 5 grams for special cases. It's generally equipped to do anything required for that work.
No its a good thing, otherwise I might have blown my self up trying to recreate it in hopes of understanding it.