With the cost of energy rising dramatically in the last few years, scientists and engineers have intensified their efforts to find alternative sources of energy. The use of biologically produced oils, especially used vegetable oils to produce biodiesel, has been heavily investigated as a source of energy. Biodiesel is a mixture of methyl or ethyl esters of fatty acids, and it is generated from alkanolysis of fatty acid triglycerides extracted from vegetable oils. This project has several objectives. 1. Prepare pure sample of methyl esters of palmitic and lauric acid that can be used as internal standards for analysis. 2. Convert vegetable oil to biodiesel using methanolysis and ethanolysis, and develop appropriate analytical techniques to analyze the efficiency of the conversation as well as to examine the composition and purity of the biodiesel. These techniques include thin layer chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, infrared spectrophotometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. 3. Develop a chemical process to convert one of the byproducts of biodiesel formation, namely glycerol, to triacetin. This product has multiple uses, including the use as an additive in biodiesel. Initial studies were conducted using pure glycerol. The goal is to use “waste” glycerol derived from biodiesel production processes. Appropriate analytical methods to analyze triacetin also were developed. Results from the aforementioned studies will be presented.

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Publications and Presentations:
Denby, D.R. Phillips, A, Larsen, P.N., Lee, M.N.F., Chavda, S. and Misovich, M.J., "The Chemistry behind the Conversion of Vegetable Oils to Biodiesel ", AIChE Ann. Meeting. CD-ROM Proc (2009). Conference presentations Students Honored at Chemical Engineering Conference, November 8-13, 2009

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