Week 4

     During week 4 the group finally decided on which parameters we would like to optimize. We will be focusing on the cost of the purification, which will be measured in money spent on the setup (drums, pipes, etc.) and chemicals (such as magnesol). We will be ignoring any other costs. Another focus will be time; we will measure how long it takes for the biofuel to be purified starting from when we add the first compound with the intent to clean the crude fuel (i.e. addition of water, magnesol, etc.) Finally we will be measuring safety. We will measure safety according to what compounds are produced by the purification process, and their NFPA 704: Standard System for the Identification of the Hazards of Materials for Emergency Response rating. For example if one method of washing produced only methanol (health rating: 1, flammability: 3, reactivity: 0) and another produced only glycerin (health rating: 1, flammability: 1, reactivity: 0) we woud say the second reaction is safer because the byproudcts are safer.
         We are hybridizing dry wash and water wash in order to maximize the benefits of both. Water washing is almost always safer than dry washing, and is typically less complex, and costs less. However, dry washing uses no water (obviously) and doesn't cause emulsion. We aim to mix these methods in a way that safely, but quickly washes crude biodiesel.

    The individual washing methods we are considering to hybridize together are:

    Dry Wash:
    1. Magnesol
    2. ION exchange 
    3. Air washing
    4. Resin Tower
    5. Sawdust
    Water Wash
    1. Static
    2. Pump
    3. Mist
    4. Bubble
    Some dry washing methods, like air washing, already recommend a wet wash first, so hopefully combining two wash methods will be simple and easy for others to copy.