STYROFOAM-WHITE POLLUTION

TO EXTRACT OIL FROM ORANGE PEELS

 HYPOTHESIS:

BOILING ORANGE PEELS IN WATER AND THEN STRAINING AND FILTERING THE RESIDUE SHOULD RESULT IN THE COLLECTION OF ORANGE PEEL OIL.

MATERIAL:

METHOD

1. CUT UP ORANGE PEELS

2. PLACE THEM IN 2 CUPS OF WATER IN A POT

3. PUT THE POT ON THE STOVE AT LOW HEAT

4. LET THE POT SIMMER FOR 3-4 HOURS

5. STRAIN THE LIQUID THROUGH A STRAINER AND DISCARD THE ORANGE PEELS AND PULP.

6. FILTER THE LIQUID THROUGH A COFFEE FILTER INTO A CUP.

7. RETURN THE LIQUID TO THE POT AND BOIL UNTIL CONDENSED.

RESULTS:

LIMITATIONS:

THIS PROCESS IS USUALLY DONE WITH A DISTILLATION SETUP WHICH WAS NOT AVAILABLE TO ME.

CONCLUSIONS:

LEAVING THE LID OFF THE POT WHILE BOILING MAY HAVE CAUSED SOME OF THE OIL TO CONDENSE AND MAKE THE CONCENTRATION WEAKER THAN NECESSARY TO DISSOLVE THE STYROFOAM. I WILL DO THE EXPERIMENT AGAIN WITH THE LID ON TO SEE IF I CAN OBTAIN A STRONGER CONCENTRATION OF OIL.

Note: The same experiment was conducted leaving the lid on the pot and the oil obtained was still not of sufficient concentration to melt Styrofoam.

I will try to locate a distillation setup and repeat the experiment.

Note: d-limonene is available in food and technical grade concentrations-I have ordered some on the Internet to try further experimentation.