Lab 5- Transesterification of Vegetable Oil and Alcohol to Produce Ethyl Esters (Biodiesel)

We've updated this video here:    • Lab 5 (Updated)-Transesterification o...  
Current Link for the molecular weight calculator is here: https://biodieseleducation.org/Produc...

A more step--by-step calculation for the alcohol amounts is here:    • Transesterification of Biodiesel Calc...  

This lab discusses the transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats as a reversible chemical reaction, the role of a catalyst in transesterification, the use of ethanol in biodiesel production, the importance of temperature and agitation for the chemical reaction, the side reactions that compete with transesterification, and the separation of the co-product glycerol.

For more information on the chemistry labs, visit www.biodieseleducation.org

UPDATE: There was a mistake in the ethanol calculation that is fixed in our updated video here:    • Lab 5 (Updated)-Transesterification o...