STEP: Biodiesel Projects - Fall 2007
STEP: Biodiesel Projects - Spring 2008

A significant portion of the STEP course focuses on small group projects. The groups will work with faculty to create a final product to be displayed in a public forum at the end of the semester.

• Communication/Marketing
• Soap Production
• Production Research
• Emissions Analysis

Communication/Marketing   

The communication and marketing group aimed to influence an increase in student participation in upcoming Solutions to Environmental Problems (STEP) courses by facilitating a STEP marketing campaign. The campaign focused on informing students about STEP and the course’s future offerings through an interactive awareness campaign. The group's objectives were to:

• Advertise the STEP course to students through effective brand marketing

• Inform students and the Loyola community about the accomplishments

• Share with the public any important breakthroughs and developments

• Construct and install a piece of art to stimulate sustainability conversations on campus

Soap Production   

The soap production group explored the possible uses of glycerin, a waste product of biodiesel production. This project aligned itself with the overarching goal of the STEP: Biodiesel class to reduce waste created from the biodiesel production process. This project built on previous student work on purifying the glycerin and took the project to new heights. This project group was tasked with:

• Researching soap recipes and best practices

• Adapting the soap making procedures to account for our waste inputs

• Producing a high quality liquid hand soap

• Bottling, labeling, and testing our new BioSoap

Production Research   

The production research group set out to minimize our laboratory costs while maximizing our oil conversion to biodiesel. This project aligned itself with the overarching goal of the STEP: Biodiesel class to reduce waste by dialing in the amount of chemicals needed. This group:

• Conducted multiple transesterification reactions to determine the minimum amount of methanol needed
• Determined the overall monetary savings of any chemical quantity reductions
• Recommended not employing any quantity changes
• Suggested alternative ways to reduce lab waste and maximize our fuel conversion 

Emissions Analysis   

The main objectives for this project were to collect, analyze, and compare tailpipe emissions from different fuel sources. We aimed to provide significant evidence that biodiesel is a much cleaner-burning fuel source than diesel and waste vegetable oil (WVO). This work continued a student project from Fall 2007. This group set out to:

• Collect tailpipe emissions from a single vehicle run on three different fuels - biodiesel, diesel, and WVO
• Compare the physical (particulates) and chemical (CO2, Sulfur, etc.) attributes of each fuel's emissions
• Partnered with the Field Museum's Renewable Energy Vehicle for testing  

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