River Cottage filming Where we are...
Transcript of River Cottage filming Where we are...
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