A MOBIL BIODIESEL PRODUCTION PLATFORM AS A METHODOLOGY TO SHOW CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TO BACHELORS STUDENTS

The main objective of this presentation is the application of a new methodologies to show in a short time an industrial process in a chemical engineering process to secondary students. In order to improve their attention and trying to catch their interest in Chemical Engineering studies at Girona’s University.

Actually, new methods are introduced to understand and simulate industrial processes to help students in their comprehension and clarify their use. A multidisciplinary group of teachers decided to push the creation of a mobile platform for the production of biofuels must allow to approach the chemical engineering to the students of obligatory secondary education and baccalaureate, in a dynamic and entertaining way.In a dynamic and changing world, in which it is necessary to replace all those contaminating products, for more ecological products, where chemistry plays a very important role.

The objective set for this group is the creation of this mobile platform to promote technological vocations in Girona’s area. This platform will consist in different stages of biofuels’ production (oil extraction, esterification, separation and purification), as a small test bench that will include a small motor diesel engine and a calorimeter pump.

The production of biodiesel is based on the use of fatty acids present in vegetable oils for making a natural fuel and renewable origin, neutral from the point of view of CO2 emissions. Initially, first step it will proceed to extract these oils from colza by a pressing system, such as its extraction with environmentally sustainable solvents. In a second step, extracted oil will be separated from the solvents and esterified to obtain biodiesel. The esterification process with alcohol give as a result biodiesel and glycerin. In this way, the process of separation and purification of this two products resulting from the chemical reaction will be shown to students. Finally, the combustion of the biofuel obtained in a small motor diesel engine and the determination of its calorific power through a calorimeter pump will be shown to the students. The glycerin obtained will be used in the production of soap.

Our experience and the description of this process and the results of these innovative methods, paying special attention to the methodological changes that they have taken in respect to the way of proceeding from previous editions, are described in this presentation.
Likewise, the system will also be presented to obtain feedback from students that will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the new model and adjust it in order to motivate their interest in this professional field.