CLUSTER 6: BIODIESEL FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES

Week 1, the focus of Cluster 6 was to make Bio-diesel. We have made Biodiesel from Soy Bean Oil, using the process or transesterification, washed the impurities from the product, and dried the Biodiesel to remove water. All our cluster are doing well, and got a good reaction. Next week we’ll start the analytical tests to certify our Bio-diesel. Mr. Towler "In just one day, I have become phenomenal friends with my suite mates and cluster mates. Our 2 hour ice breakers games sparked excitement in me for the next 2 weeks." Jenna C. “Today was the first day of classes in which all clus-ters first sat through a Lab Safety Training. Cluster 6 went into the lab for the first time and was able to get right into creating biodiesel out of vegetable oil and methoxide.” Andrea F.

“I woke up tired, but overcame that to take an ac-tive role in the lab. After class, Mafia was my favorite part,

the bonding let me feel right at home.” Truman F. “After adding water to the biodiesel and washing out the impurities, we needed to evaporate the water out of it. We learned about why this eliminated the risk of mi-crobes and allowed the biodiesel to burn hotter and faster, creating less emissions.” Anusikha H. “Today we started on our final projects, which was pretty cool. My group’s project deals with lowering the melting point of biodiesels by adding acetals, which are waste products from the original biodiesel synthesis pro-cess.” Daniel J.

Week 2, the focus of Cluster 6 has been to begin analytical testing of the Biodiesel made in week 1. We have orga-nized into project groups, and have be-gun working on the projects. Students have been working on their ethics essays, and they have submitted them for judg-ing. Our Cluster 6 field trip was also this week, we spent the day at the Birch Aquarium, and touring the Hydrology Lab and the Field Research Station. Next week will be more analytical tests of out Biodiesel and work on projects. Mr. Towler

"The COSMOlympics were so fun and a great way to get our cluster work-ing together " Anmol K. “We began to complete the certificate of analysis for our biodiesel. My group used the bomb calorimeter, which was exciting because the equipment was much more advanced than the styrofoam calorime-ters that I used in the Chem labs this past school year.” Liana K. "Today we had a lecture about A.I. and how it interlocks with other fields of science like biology and physics. It was interesting to see the vast amounts of

knowledge that gets developed through these technologies." Claire L. “I really enjoyed seeing the Al-gae fields and hydrology lab. It was cool to see that fuel could be grown, not ex-tracted from the ground. Seeing the only salt water flume in the world was cool.” Chet M. “This morning we got to listen to what a lot of the other clusters are work-ing on. It was fun to hear in more depth what our fellow Cosmos students do eve-ry day!” Lydia M.

CLUSTER 6: BIODIESEL FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES

Week 3, Cluster 6 has been working diligently on analyzing our Bio-diesel to verify it meets standards. All of our project groups have made great progress in experimental design and data collection for their final projects. We will be completing data collection for projects and work on presentations next week. We look forward to presen-tations next Saturday. Mr. Towler

"In lecture our professor brought in a guest speaker, Dr. Stephen Mayfield, who founded the algae-oil based company Sapphire Energy. He gave an interesting presentation- he demonstrated the dovetailing between both technological/environmental and business/politics concerns, which was a neat perspective." Elizabeth N.

“A part of our lab work is tied to what we learn in lecture, so on Mon-day we found the viscosity and cloud point of our biodiesel. Previously we had learned that those two features affect the viability of biodiesel in wide-spread use so we tested our samples to prove what we had talked about in lec-ture.” Anthony O.

“Today we had a discovery lec-ture from Dr. John Hildebrand about offshore archaeology. We also contin-ued to work on our final projects.” Meera P.

“A critical aspect of our bio-diesel is the functional groups which make up the fuel and determine its properties. Therefore on Wednesday we used an instrument called the FTIR which used infrared radiation and its

diffraction with a crystal to measure the different functional groups inside our sample of biodiesel. This was a really eye opening experience and taught me about the technology that chemists use in their work.” Jason P.

“Today, we gained insight into many different clusters ranging from music to tissue engineering.” Gokul R.

CLUSTER 6: BIODIESEL FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES

Week 4, Cluster 6 has finished working on analyz-ing our Biodiesel and have completed the certificates of analysis. All of our project groups have completed their final projects and have been working on their presentation posters and their final presentations. We have had a great week together learning the chemistry associated with pro-ducing Biodiesel and the associated analytical chemistry in-volved in testing it. We look forward to presenting to all our family members on Saturday. Mr. Towler

“In today’s programming, we did Social Justice. It’s really interesting because this was something we cannot learn from science. We discussed about some hot-debated topic such as racial discrimination and difference between sex and gender. This activity was really meaningful and edu-cational because it taught me how to respect the others.”

-Yuhan S.

“Let's run, not walk, to the finish line.” Andrew S." We heard our last discovery lecture which focused on possible life on other planets. In the lab, we are wrapping up on our final projects, meanwhile everyone else is hard at work with their final project power points." Kathy T. "On Wednesday, we spent the day working on the presentations and posters for our group projects. My group finished our poster and began to rehearse for our presenta-tion." Athena T.

"Hello good food, bye-bye million-dollar lab equipment." Elizabeth W.

CLUSTER 6: BIODIESEL FROM RENEWABLE SOURCES