Madison Area Technical College recently ordered and received a biodiesel reactor. The reactor will be used to educate MATC students in the production and use of biodiesel fuels, and to promote biodiesel awareness around the state. To find their reactor MATC looked no further than UW-Madison.
The reactor was designed and built by UW-Madison undergraduate students enrolled in an Introduction to Engineering class, commonly known as InterEgr 160, taught by Marc Anderson, professor of civil and environmental engineering.
""This project really shows what our engineering students are capable of, even at an introductory level,"" Anderson said.
Built for MATC's Diesel Equipment Technology Program, the reactor will be used to teach students about the process of producing biodiesel and will also be toured around the state technical college system to promote biodiesel awareness and education.
""The goal is for students to synthesize and study various biodiesel fuel blends,"" said Ken Walz, an MATC chemistry instructor who directed the project.
Biodiesel is classified as a diesel-equivalent processed fuel derived from biological sources. Unlike biological replacements for gasoline, such as E85, diesel engines require no modifications to use the fuel. In 2004, almost 30 million gallons of biodiesel were sold in the United States, and that market is expected to grow to two billion gallons per year by 2010.
""Biodiesel is also an environmentally friendly fuel,"" said Stephanie Britton, a UW-Madison materials science graduate student who is completing a teaching internship at MATC.
""Because the oils used to make biodiesel come from agricultural crops, combustion of the fuel has zero net carbon dioxide emissions. This reduces greenhouse gases and helps address global warming,"" said Britton.
Biodiesel is produced from a blend of vegetable oils and alcohols in a process called transesterification, which is the exchanging of the alkoxy group of an ester compound for another alcohol group. For efficiency, the reaction is usually catalyzed by certain acids and bases.
Rapeseed and soybean oils are the most common ingredients in the reaction, though only 40 gallons of biodiesel can be produced per acre of soybean crop. In contrast, hydroponic algae, which has been used in experimental production, has the potential to produce 10,000 gallons of biodiesel per acre of land utilized.
Waste vegetable oil and animal fats, such as tallow, lard and grease can also be used as primary inputs in the transesterification reaction.
The end product of MATC's reactor, over 100 gallons of biodiesel per week, will be characterized by students for specific properties such as ""specific gravity, viscosity, flash point and oxidative stability,"" Walz said.
Since different catalysts, alcohols and agricultural inputs produce different blends of fuel, students will be able to work towards an optimal mix of inputs for the cheapest and most energy efficient biodiesel product.
The biodiesel will also be used to fuel MATC's fleet of diesel-powered vehicles. Engines will be monitored for efficiency, emissions and wear as students experiment with different input blends.
While biodiesel has the potential to replace petroleum fuel for transportation purposes, much research is required before that is a reality. Still, this reactor is one step toward a different sort of energy economy.
