The stars of the day, 6th form

chemists Dawn Coghlan,

Amber Clarke, Hannah

Oliphant, Bessie Collins and

Charlotte Elliot were waiting by

the container for the film crew

but when the arrival of the

“Landy” was filmed four times,

the pattern for the day became

clear.

Hugh Fearnley - Whittingstall

was very amenable and

managed to put the students at

ease

– even after splashing them

with cooking oil from River

Cottage Canteen.

The five

s t u d e n t s

clearly explained the chemistry

behind the process and Hugh

successfully managed to make some

b i o d i e s e l

himself.

The moment of truth arrived

when he poured 20 litres of

biodiesel into his “Landy” and

drove off without a hitch.

River Cottage filmingHow the Project began... Where we are now

The Partnership grant allowed us to focus on our

Business & Enterprise

specialism and set up a

company to convert waste veg

oil into biodiesel.

By Mid-

F e b r u a r y

our shipping container had arrived

and plans were made to convert the

empty box into a working laboratory.

Further funds were donated by;

D e v o n

County Council, Exeter

University and local companies

Lowara, River Cottage and

Wallis Electrical bringing the

total raised to £8000.

We were also now working to a

deadline; River Cottage

announced that they wanted to

film Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

making biodiesel in early May.

Wallis worked hard to assemble

the container, a competition was

run to design a company logo

and plans for production started.

Filming day arrived and an hour

before Hugh & the film crew

arrived the first batch of biodiesel

was ready to be put into Jerry cans.

At the end of May sixty pupils took three samples to

Exeter University for testing.

After a day working in the

lab, our university partner Dr

Butler announced that our

biodiesel met European

standards.

Full production did not start until September after four

year 10 pupils joined the

project for work experience.

These pupils worked to

develop the production

process and write a standard

procedure which is still in use.

They also started to develop

ideas for their GCSE

coursework investigating the

speed of the reaction. This

extended the work based

around this project; including

A-level Chemistry investigations into the best catalyst

for the reaction and also how

to make soap our waste

product.

Axe Valley BioDiesel has now

made and sold over 2200

litres and we plan to use the

profits to fund pupil projects chosen as a result of a

Dragon’s Den style competition.

Axe Valley Biodiesel June 2010

Thank you to our partnersHow to make Biodiesel

1.) Collect waste oil from local businesses (some may

even deliver their oil!).

2.) Filter oil through an old cloth to

remove chips.

3.) Transfer oil

into a large

container, heat

and stir to remove

any excess water.

4.) Check oil for any excess fatty

acids - using a process called

titration.

5.) Weigh out 4.9 grams of

potassium hydroxide catalyst

for each

litre of oil -

adding extra to neutralise any excess

fatty acids.

6.) Add the

catalyst to 20

litres of methanol

(careful - highly toxic and flammable!)

7.) Slowly add this mixture to the oil

then heat and stir for about four

hours.

8.) Let the waste glycerol settle

out and remove.

9.) Wash and dry the biodiesel.

10.) Filter the biodiesel into

Jerry cans and fill up the car!

The Axe Valley Community College

& Sixth Form CentreSpecialising in Business and EnterpriseSpecialising in Business and Enterprise

A school - based

b u s i n e s s

c o n v e r t i n g

waste chip fat

into biofuel.

Situated in Axminster, Devon the

Axe Valley Community College

specialises in Business and

Enterprise.

Set up with a Royal Society Partnership

Grant, Axe Valley BioDiesel has given

pupils of all ages experience of working

in a business environment as well as

dealing with local businesses.

BioDiesel