Saturday, February 03, 2007

Salami Rocket

The Science of Cooking by Peter Barham contains a section which explains fats and oils. In this section, Peter Barham explains how the oxidation (burning) of fat with oxygen is a source of energy in humans. He compares this reaction to a car engine but explains that the reaction takes place much slower in the human body. This got me thinking about an episode of the Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel. One of the experiments they performed was to use salami as a rocket fuel. A tube of salami was selected and a hole down the center was drilled out. In the hole, they placed black powder which served as a quick flash igniter. Liquid nitrous oxide was used as an oxidizer in the rocket. The rocket ended up flying about 20 ft. The Mythbusters concluded that salami can be used as rocket fuel. Since Salami is high in fat content, the fat in Salami oxidizes and releases energy that propels the rocket.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide

http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2006/04/episode_51_myths_reopened.html

6 comments:

Sunal Makadia said...

This is actually pretty interesting. Right before school started, a couple of friends and I participated in a Chick-fil-A grand opening ceremony (the first 100 customers would receive free food for a year from Chick-fil-A). Anyway, while we were there, we met a team of “hobos” who drove from one Chick-fil-A to the next all over the country in a giant “Eat Mor Chikin” bus. They told us that they ate Chick-Fil-A every day of the year and used leftover cooking grease to power their bus. I found this interesting but hard to believe, so I searched for it online and found the following link:
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4656

Daphne said...

Did you win the opportunity to eat free for a year? That was the Chick-fil-A in Suwanee, right? I was very disappointed that I learned about the contest after it had ended.

Converting cooking oil into power is not uncommon. Did you know the campus shuttles are fueled by grease from Cox Hall. The project is the result of an honors thesis in Environmental Science. Wouldn't it be cool to have an honors thesis that left such an impact on the campus?

Liz said...

Wow. My first reaction to your comment, Dr. Norton, is, "that's so disgusting". I'm surprised that they have that much grease left over to power the shuttles! I didn't know that but it certainly is very cool. I feel like the DUC would have a lot of grease to contribute as well. I hope other college communities participate in this kind of reusing of materials.

NaureenG said...

That is actually very creative of the Environmental Studies student to propose that. I agree with Liz -- the DUC could contribute the most to the shuttles from all the grease it uses. Do you have any more information about this thesis because I'd like to know how many shuttles actually run on the grease and how many liters of grease they get from Cox Hall everyday.

Laura said...

I think using the leftover grease from Cox Hall and the DUC is an excellent idea. I wish more restaraunts would do this as well. The leftover grease can be used to make biodiesel, which burns much cleaer than fossil fuels. Willie Nelson runs his tour bus on what he has marketed as BioWillie. Many gas stations now mix their diesel fuel with biodiesel in concentrations ranging from 5-100% biodiesel. The great thing about biodiesel is that if your diesel car was made in the mid-1990's, it doesn't need any modifications to use the fuel! When researching biodiesel for a presentaiton last spring, I found a bumper sticker that said: Biodiesel, this car is a vegetarian!

Jason said...

Like Laura said, the biodiesel ranges from 5-100%, which is the ratio of biodiesel mixed with regular diesel fuel. I wanted to expand on Dr. Norton's comment about the Emory student who wrote his honors thesis on this topic which led to Emory incorporating this technology into its own shuttle fleet. The students name is Erik Fyfe, and I had the opportunity to speak with him after a presentation he gave in one of my environmental science classes. The Emory fleet is currently running on what is known as B-10, which means the fuel is only 10% biodiesel. However, this is only temporary because the bus manufactures mandate that any diesel engine that uses over 10% biodiesel nullifies the warranty. Fyfe, who now works with an environmental company preparing biodiesel and distributing it to their customers, told me that Emory has promised to switch to B-100 as soon as the warrantees on their buses run out.