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Renewable Energy Science Fair Project

Bioethanol vs. Fossil Fuels: Energy and Burn Time

Hard
Bioethanol vs. Fossil Fuels: Energy and Burn Time | Science Fair Projects | STEM Projects
How does bioethanol compare to gasoline, diesel, and kerosene as a fuel? You measure two things: how much heat each fuel produces and how long it burns. You pour 200 ml of each fuel into separate beakers. One at a time you light each beaker and hold a test tube of water above the flame. You record the highest water temperature reached and the total burn time. Gasoline heats the water the most but burns out the fastest at 41 seconds. Diesel burns the longest at 89 seconds. Bioethanol produces the smallest temperature rise of the four fuels.

Hypothesis

The hypothesis is that bioethanol has a lower energy density than gasoline, and therefore will cause a smaller increase in water temperature when burned.

Method & Materials

You will measure and pour 200ml of each fuel into four beakers, measure and pour 50ml of water into a test tube, set up the test tube in a stand and holder, and ignite the fuel with a lighter.
You will need 200ml of bioethanol, kerosene, diesel, and gasoline, a lighter, old newspapers, four beakers, four test tubes, a test tube stand and holder, 200ml of water, a measuring cylinder, a stopwatch, a thermal mat, and a thermometer.

Results

The results showed that gasoline produced the biggest increase in the temperature of the water, while bioethanol showed the smallest rise in the water temperature. The diesel fuel burned for the longest period while the gasoline fuel burned out the fastest. The hypothesis was proven to be true.

Why do this project?

This science project is interesting and unique because it explores the power of bioethanol fuel and its effects on water temperature and burning time.

Also Consider

Experiment variations to consider include using different types of biofuel, such as biodiesel, and measuring the temperature rise of the water in the test tube at different distances from the burning fuel in the beaker.

Full project details

Additional information and source material for this project are available below.

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