Sunday, November 11, 2007

Building a processor with High School students


Had fun doing a processor build workshop with kids from Kamiak High School a couple weeks ago. The workshop was held in the diesel lab at the Sno Isle Skills Center in Mukilteo, WA, which the district uses to teach kids diesel mechanics- wish I could take the class! We had 7 students along with the chemistry teacher, John, and the diesel mechanics teacher Brent, who was a great asset- showing us their big diesel engines and explaining how they work. He also helped get the darn zinc anode out of the water heater with his air impact wrench when all else had failed!
They had ordered the b100supply Appleseed kit, so it seemed like it'd be no problem, except that they had gotten a gas water heater to start with, and that wouldn't do! So we started out the day with Brent and John rounding up an electric one- with amazing speed! - while I went over biodiesel basics with the kids.
Once we got the right water heater, and got that anode out, the rest was easy- we even made a 16 gallon batch using some of the waste fryer oil from the cafeteria..
Check out the pics from the day here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lesmithjr/BiodieselWorkshop

BioLyle's Biodiesel Workshop
http://biolyle.com

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