Three different tests were performed in order to answer the questions. These tests will determine which oilseed crop; canola, safflower, sunflower or flax will yield the most oil and outputs the most amount of energy.

Test 1

In the first test, vegetable oil will be extracted from different oilseeds in order to find the oil percentage of the different crops. This is done in order to find the percentage of oil in the different oilseeds and to determine what is the best choice of crop for a Saskatchewan farmer to grow.

Trial 1

In the first trial, a 3 tonne arbor press is used to crush the seeds and squeeze out the oil. A known amount of seed will be used and the amount of liquid would be measured. The compression jig failed to produce any oil. The reason is probably not enough pressure is applied to the seeds

Trial 2

In the second trial, the seeds are ground up using a blender before they are put into the compression chamber . The compression jig still failed to produce any oil from the seeds.

Trial 3

In the third trial, a 22 kg pipe is attached to the turning bar to add more leverage, so at least 2x the force was applied to the seeds. There was no oil produced from this change, The seeds in the chamber appeared to have a oily film on the outside of the seeds. This indicates that pressure can squeeze out oil but it would require higher pressures to work correctly.

Test 2

In the second test, the amount of energy output is measured when the different oils are burned. This test will determine what oil produced from the oilseeds will output the most energy. This is also a key step in finding the best choice of crop for a Saskatchewan farmer to grow.

In this test, there will be one trial for each vegetable oil. This is because the amount of time it takes for each oil to burn would take too long if repeated several times. The oils were put in a glass candle with a glass wick, the heat is captured by a home made calorimeter. The energy expelled was captured by a container of water and the temperature change will allow the calculation of energy expelled from each oil.

Test 3

In the third test, there are two parts. They are different but they are to help find out information about the different oils and the preparation of them. The first part will be performed to find the differences of viscosity between the four oils, water and diesel. The second part will determine what temperature that a certain vegetable oil must be heated to, to attain the same viscosity as diesel. By heating the vegetable oil, it makes it become less viscous so it flows faster through the container. This test is done because vegetable oils are thicker than diesel so it has to be heated before able to be used as fuel.

In this test, there were two trials. There was no difference in the steps that were taken it was the temperature of the oils that was different. The vegetable oils were cold from being in the car so the temperature of the oils varied for the first trial. After I realized that I was getting strange results like Canola oil taking over six minutes to drain, I waited until the oils reached room temperature before testing them. Trial 2 was the different oils being tested at room temperature. When the oils were tested at room, temperature, the results were much more reasonable.

These tests do not help answer my question directly but the information gathered will be useful when analyzing the economics of farming.