Philippines, our country, is a third world country that depends mainly on foreign products. And one of these products is energy from oil exports from the Middle East. We all know that petroleum come from fossil fuels. The production of fossil fuel is declining and not only that, the fossil fuel also emit harmful gases that cause air pollution. Fossil fuel is also a non-renewable resource. With these facts, the researchers came up with the idea of using an alternative source of fuel, which is biodiesel. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel, which the raw materials are found here in the Philippines. Ethanol is the main component for biodiesel. It consists of raw materials such as sugary and starchy plants. Sugary plants are sugar canes and sugar beets while example of starchy plants are rice, corn and root crops. The researchers decided to use the root crops as a source for ethanol since it is widely available here in Cebu. These root crops are potatoes, sweet potatoes and taros. These three are abundant in Cebu that is why the researchers chose them specifically. The team conducted the study, hand in hand, in vision that many may benefit from this study.
It was the purpose of the researchers to compare the amount of extracted ethanol from 100ml of potato, sweet potato and taro. The researchers were also interested in knowing which of the three yielded the greatest amount of alcohol and the least amount of alcohol.
To have the data required for a fair conclusion, the researchers went on the procedure of distillation. First, we prepared the materials needed. The processes involved were divided into three major divisions: cooking, fermentation and distillation. Cooking involves the peeling and cooking of the root crops for 15 minutes. The process of cooking also included the blending of the root crops and the mixing 60 grams of yeast thoroughly. After the cooking process comes the fermentation process. In fermentation, the blended yeast and root crops are placed inside a jar and then was sealed airtight. The jar was placed in a cool dry place for 30 days without opening. This span of time was the fermentation period of the yeast. The yeast will perform the chemical reactions in order to produce ethanol. After 30 days of fermentation, the fermented root crops were then to undergo distillation in order to extract the ethanol. Three set-ups of distilling instruments were prepared in this process. The distillation process involves the separation of liquids from liquids. That has to be done with the fermented root crops. After each trial was distilled within 15 hours of distillation, they were subjected into a flame test. The sweet potatoes and taros sparked while the taro extract did not. The researchers also measured the mass and the volume of the distillate and the amount of ethanol extracted from the fermented root crops.
It was the purpose of the researchers to compare the amount of extracted ethanol from 100ml of potato, sweet potato and taro. The researchers were also interested in knowing which of the three yielded the greatest amount of alcohol and the least amount of alcohol.
To have the data required for a fair conclusion, the researchers went on the procedure of distillation. First, we prepared the materials needed. The processes involved were divided into three major divisions: cooking, fermentation and distillation. Cooking involves the peeling and cooking of the root crops for 15 minutes. The process of cooking also included the blending of the root crops and the mixing 60 grams of yeast thoroughly. After the cooking process comes the fermentation process. In fermentation, the blended yeast and root crops are placed inside a jar and then was sealed airtight. The jar was placed in a cool dry place for 30 days without opening. This span of time was the fermentation period of the yeast. The yeast will perform the chemical reactions in order to produce ethanol. After 30 days of fermentation, the fermented root crops were then to undergo distillation in order to extract the ethanol. Three set-ups of distilling instruments were prepared in this process. The distillation process involves the separation of liquids from liquids. That has to be done with the fermented root crops. After each trial was distilled within 15 hours of distillation, they were subjected into a flame test. The sweet potatoes and taros sparked while the taro extract did not. The researchers also measured the mass and the volume of the distillate and the amount of ethanol extracted from the fermented root crops.
The researchers got the following data after performing the experiments: 4.7 ml of ethanol was extracted from potatoes, while 7.5 ml and 5.5 ml of ethanol was extracted from sweet potatoes and taros, respectively. With these data, sweet potato was found to be a better source of ethanol compared to potato and taro.
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