Olive Pomace and Cherry Stones used as Biofuels

Abstract

The aim of the article is to show how to encouragestudents to deepen their knowledge and their enthusiasm for research. In thisway we can also promote the popularization of science and technology as well asthe identification of students talented in specific research areas.This articlepresents an example of writing a research assignment undertaken by students inthe final year of primary school (class 9, i.e. age 14-15). During schoollessons, we did not discuss biomass as fuel in detail, but we found the topicvery interesting, which is why we decided theat we would focus on it in ourresearch paper. We live in the age of diminishing supplies of fossil fuels andconsequently a growing interest in the renewable energy sources, includingbiofuels.Through research assignment, we wanted our students to learn moreabout the characteristics of biofuels which we haven’t discussed in detail inclass. Biofuel is a solid, liquid or gaseous fuel, obtained from a relativelyrecently deceased biological substance. In addition to looking for informationin literature and electronic resources, we conducted experiments in which wemeasured how many degrees a particular quantity of water heats up by theburning of various fuels, and the amount of residue left after burning. Thefuels we used were: pellets, briquettes, olive pomace, cherry stones,biodiesel, ethanol and sawdust.We established that different types of fuelemit, when burnt, different amounts of heat. Water heated up the most when burning ethanol,while it heated up the least when using biodiesel. Experiments showed thatdifferent fuels burn for different amounts of time, leaving a residue whichdepends on the type of fuel.