Plant Energy

• Demonstrate the natural heat energy in plant-based products. Push the eye of a needle into the end of a cork and the other end of the needle into a peanut. Remove the ends of a large juice can. Punch holes around the bottom. Punch two holes on opposite sides of the open end of a smaller can. Slide a skewer through the holes and fill the can with half a cup of room-temperature water. Record the water temperature. Place the cork and peanut on a non-flammable surface and touch the peanut with a lighter. When the peanut ignites, place the large can around it and hold the small can on top of the large can. When the nut burns out, stir the water and record the temperature. The chemical energy in the peanut is released when lit, which raises the temperature in the small can. Try this experiment with different kinds of nuts and determine whether certain nuts contain more energy than others.
  
  

Make Your Own Methanol Biodiesel

• Make your own biodiesel. Pour two cups of vegetable oil in a beaker and place on a magnetic mixer/heater with the magnet in the oil. Heat the oil to 46 degrees Celsius. Crush sodium hydroxide into flakes, using a crushing pot. Place 85 milliliters of methanol and 1/4 teaspoon of sodium hydroxide flakes into a separate beaker. Place this mixture into the magnetic mixer until the particles are mixed through. Add the methanol mixture to the vegetable oil. Stir with the magnetic mixer for 30 minutes. Pour the mixture into five graduated cylinders and cover with plastic wrap. Let the mixture settle for 24 hours. Use a screen funnel to separate the glycerin from the mixture. Compare your homemade biodiesel with diesel fuel. Examine differences in viscosity, color, smell and flammability.
  
  

Heat Output of Biodiesel

• Determine whether biodiesel provides an efficient alternative to diesel or kerosene. Pour 2.5 liters of diesel fuel into the chamber of a smudge pot (oil-burning device used in orchards). Light the fuel and record the time you do this. Using a high-temperature probe and an infrared thermometer, take the temperature of the flame every two minutes until the flame goes out and record the time. Repeat the experiment twice for the diesel fuel. Do the same for the same amount of kerosene and then for biodiesel. Determine which fuel burns hotter, which burns longer and which would be more cost effective to use as a heating fuel.
  
  

Biodiesel versus Cold Weather

• Biodiesels are sometimes mixed with other chemicals in different amounts. Gather different combinations and examine which blend thickens the least at freezing temperatures. Place equal amounts of each blend into separate jars. Place the jars in a freezer set to zero degrees and allow them to cool for several hours. Measure the viscosity of each fuel by timing how long each takes to pour from the jar and through a funnel. Determine which fuels thickened or gelled in cold temperatures.