An experiment illustrating the importance of standards and standard methods was developed for implementation in a three-week module of a physical chemistry lab course. Renewable energy and sustainability provide interesting interdisciplinary topics for students; biofuels demonstrate promise for addressing energy consumption needs and minimizing harmful environmental effects. Biofuels also provide an accessible introduction to the need for fuel standards and standardization methods, given the variety of biofuel preparation methods available. In Fall 2016, biodiesel synthesis protocols available in the literature were explored to find experiments feasible across two weeks of a four-hour-per-week lab period. Synthesized biodiesel samples were then combusted via adiabatic bomb calorimetry to determine reliable internal energies and enthalpies of combustion; these data were compared to standard reference data available for diesel and biodiesel, such as those available from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Materials for students and instructors were developed for a physical chemistry laboratory course, building on Fall 2016 work and a comparable experiment from an engineering chemistry course taught at the same institution. These results were used to prepare a three-week module for physical chemistry lab in Fall 2017, in which students will independently research and complete a biodiesel synthesis, using both their organic chemistry knowledge and the chemical literature; they will then analyze the properties of their synthesized biodiesel using physical chemistry techniques such as adiabatic bomb calorimetry; finally, they will compare these properties to standardized reference data available for diesel and biodiesel fuels. Students will explore a variety of general objectives, including the impact of chemical structure on fuel properties and the many uses of standard reference data; in so doing, they will also investigate the complex, interdisciplinary topics of sustainability and renewable energy.

Exploring standards and standardization in the physical chemistry laboratory

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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