Learning from Failures

Welcome to Biodiesel@MIT. My name is Angela, and somehow this year, I got roped into the crazy world that is biodiesel. I joined the club this year, wanting to get involved with alternative energy initiatives on campus. Briefly, Biodiesel@MIT was started with the goal of processing used vegetable oil from the student center to biodiesel that can be run in the campus shuttles and equipment. I happened to get involved at a very exciting time: this past semester, our biodiesel finally passed ASTM standards, and is ready to be blended into B10 for campus facilities. Our club is also currently transitioning. Many members of our club graduated this past semester, somehow leaving me in charge.
So I am here for the summer, processing biodiesel and preparing for my role as President next semester. We have a lot of work, but it's very rewarding.
After putting processing on hold for a couple of months due to a broken pump, we are finally back in business. Last week, we made methoxide for a third reaction for this biodiesel. Now, we are currently filtering it. Well, we would be finished today, but apparently I did the filtration incorrectly, leaving most of the magnesol in the biodiesel. While the biodiesel is still okay, it's going to take more time and more processing to finish it.
Today, I performed another magnesol wash on the biodiesel, and filtered it out. Now, after a (second) small water wash, the heated biodiesel/water combination is settling, and tomorrow morning, the waste will be drained (and properly disposed of), and we will perform a second magnesol wash, this time with a 10 micron filter instead of a 100 micron filter.
Currently, one issue we face is that we are unable to pump all of the biodiesel out of our filter. While it is not a significant amount of biodiesel compared to the amount in the tank, it makes it very difficult to remove the filter, which is caked with magnesol and very heavy. Today, after spilling a large amount of biodiesel on the ground (and myself), I managed to pump out a portion of the biodiesel, drain some from the bottom, then prop the filter up out of the cylinder using some old PVC pipe. This allowed more biodiesel to drain out of the bottom of the cylinder. Our next idea is design a structure from the ceiling that will hold the filter high enough to allow all of the biodiesel to drain. After my success with the PVC pipe, I think this is our best bet.
That's about it for today. Keep in touch and I'll keep you updated on our work for the rest of the week. Feel free to contact us anytime with questions or suggestions.