Oil Synthesis Lab Report

For this lab, 40.2 mL of canola oil were used as the initial volume for the production of synthesized biodiesel. Through the synthesis process, 31.307 grams of canola biodiesel was produced, which is a percentage yield of 85.714%. In order to get this percentage yield, the following calculations were made:
40.2 mL canola oil × 0.9073 g1 mL=36.5 g × 1 mol376.6 g=0.0416 moles canola oil From the prelab, for every 1 mole of oil, 3 moles of biodiesel are produced.
0.0416 mol oil × 3 mol biodiesel1 mol oil=0.125 mol biodiesel × 292.2 g1 mol=36.525 g biodisel The theoretical yield for this reaction is then 36.525 grams of canola biodiesel. Through the lab, 31.307 grams of canola biodiesel were produced. So in order to calculate the percentage yield, the actual yield was divided by the theoretical yield, and then multiplied by a 100% to produce a percent yield of 85.714% with
respect to significant figures.
Through the data collected in this procedure, the synthesized biodiesel is seen to have a higher heating efficiency compared to the commercial biodiesel.
This can be explained through the date of the fuel density determinations in which the synthesized biodiesel product is seen to have a higher density. Due to the synthesized biodiesel’s higher density, which means there is more mass per volume, it is able to use less mass in order to raise the contents 1 Celsius degree. Compared to the commercial biodiesel, which has a smaller density, thus less mass per volume, it’s going to need more mass in order to raise that same amount 1 Celsius degree. This can also be seen through a fuel’s energy density, which is the amount of energy that can be stored in an amount (volume) of fuel. If a fuel has a higher energy density, it is then able to transport more energy for the same volume as another fuel with a lower energy density. Biodiesel, which has a high mass density, has a higher energy density than gasoline, which has a lower mass density than biodiesel. This can be explained through the
equation e=mc2 in which m=ρV , meaning that the energy is depended upon the density of the fuel and the volume used. So through these equations, 1 L of biodiesel is able to deliver more energy than 1 L of gasoline, as biodiesel has a higher mass density. This as well corresponds to heating efficiency as fuels that need less volume to produce the same amount of energy than have a higher heating efficiency. So, as seen in the previous example, biodiesel would need fewer liters in order to produce the same amount of energy as gasoline. Thus, biodiesel not only has a higher energy density, but a higher heating efficiency as well.
However, it’s important to note that the heating efficiency setup for the lab was not very efficient. The heat produced by the reaction not only transferred to warming the water, but as well to warming the can and the air surrounding it. This means the heat measured by the change in temperature of the water is less than the total heat produced by the reaction. In order to properly measure heat, one could change the setup so that the container for the water was a better insulator, thus containing heat loss, and additionally, sealing the top so that the only thermometer can fit would as well contain heat that could escape into the surroundings.