<p>Hey guys, wanna help me with some algae?</p>
<p>I'm just getting my next year science fair project plan started, and I want to make sure my plan is feasible. What I want to do is see which combination of different species of algae and different sugars produce the most powerful oil and create the most energy. The problem is that I am not exactly sure how to get the oil to power anything. Do you guys have any info or suggestions on what I could use to display the power/energy stored in a certain amount of oil from each of the different algae species?</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the help!</p>
<p>(i am no help.) when i saw the title, i was thinkin “you need help with algae problem in your fish tank!” in that case, i was going to recommend you a couple of plecostomas cat fish or so…</p>
<p>hahaha. Maybe I should have been more specific ;]</p>
<p>Thanks anyway!</p>
<p>how exactly are you going to transform the algae to oil? You need to get some microbes I think. Say you do actually make some oil. The easiest way to measure the energy in each oil in my opinion would be to use simple calorimetry. You get a few millilitres of oil, and light them on fire, and see which oil raises the temperature of the water above it the most. You make sure this is all well insulated, and then you find the heat capacity of the oil.</p>
<p>Ok. Any ideas on anything I could power with the oil? Also, I would literally squeeze the oil out of the algae with a press pump, which is a very common way that many people use.</p>
<p>oh i see. I thought you were going to convert the algae sugars to oil (similar to stuff researchers are doing with sugar cane). You could power a lamp with oil. I wouldn’t recommend putting your oil into an engine; that will probably just cause some unintended harm to the engine. But if you want to know the energy potential from your oil, calorimetry is the way to go. The only way you could really calculate work or power would be to use your oil to power something that moves, which is a whole different story in itself and arguably more difficult (possible refining involved, as well as producing a lot).</p>
<p>Well, I would like to both measure the energy as well as calculate work/power. Any suggestions on devices I could use for the work/power?</p>
<p>Ummm, isn’t it used as an alternative to diesel?</p>
<p>Yes, it is trying to be developed economically so it can be used as a viable alternative source of energy for devices that need oil, such as cars, trucks, trains, and planes. However, I’m seeing if I can get something smaller that can be used to test it so that I don’t have to worry that much about messing up the engine.</p>
<p>Try a lawn mower engine. See if you can find an old one you can use.</p>
<p>Hmm, I suppose that might work. Not a half bad idea! Thanks!</p>