Lab Making Biodiesel to Fuel Campus Vehicles

Waste fryer oil from Campus Dining Services' residential dining centers is being converted into fuel for use in campus fleet vehicles.  A 50-gallon batch of biodiesel, produced by a team of Illinois State University undergraduate students, is currently being tested in the University's "Big Blue" recycling truck.  Fleet Operations personnel will soon begin using the fuel in other diesel powered vehicles.

The biodiesel production project is a collaborative effort of the Department of Health Sciences' Environmental Health major, Campus Dining Services, Facilities Management and the Department of Agriculture.  Undergraduate environmental health students Steve Jeka, Ashley McIlwee, Kirsten Carlson and Chris Lund handle the day-to-day operations of the biodiesel laboratory.  The students collect waste fryer oil from campus dining centers and process it in a reactor which is capable of producing 50 gallons of biodiesel every two days. 

"This has been a great educational opportunity for the students," said Tom Bierma, an environmental health professor and a lead faculty member on the biodiesel project.  "They researched the production technology, traveled to Iowa to watch it in use, purchased the reactor and other equipment, and they perform all the production operations."

Biodiesel is a fuel substitute that can be made from any plant or animal fat.  It generally performs as well or better than standard petroleum diesel, produces fewer emissions and can reduce engine wear.  The process for making the biodiesel involves combining waste oil with methanol and lye, commonly found in drain cleaner.  The simple chemical process and the readily available raw materials make the locally produced biodiesel an economically and environmentally attractive fuel source.

"Illinois State has about 6,000 gallons of waste fryer oil per year," said Bierma. "If we could convert all of that waste oil to biodiesel, we could meet about half of our campus fleet diesel fuel needs while cutting our diesel fuel greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half.  The fact that the vegetable oil lost none of its energy content when used for frying makes this an even more environmentally friendly and sustainable option."

The production of 50-gallon batches of the fuel is the latest step in ongoing biodiesel research at Illinois State.  In 2007, Bierma and Guang Jin, an associate professor of environmental health, began researching the feasibility of producing large batches of biodiesel from the used fryer oil.  A grant from the Omron Foundation in 2009 helped fund the setup of the current biodiesel production lab.  The grant funding also supports the work of the project's undergraduate student researchers. Bierma said that plans are already underway to increase the biodiesel production capacity of the laboratory in the coming months.

The fuel being used in the "Big Blue" recycling truck is a B20 blend, containing 20 percent campus-produced biodiesel and 80 percent conventional diesel fuel.  "Over the summer we will test B80 and B100 blends using the biodiesel produced in the lab," said Mike O'Grady, director of grounds and fleet operations.  "We will also be using the biodiesel blends in a backhoe, a skid loader and some of the golf course maintenance vehicles."