Project Biodiesel from Spent Coffee Grounds Program Engineering Term Academic Year 2025 Status Pending Research Area Energy and Environment Description The goal of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using spent coffee grounds (SCGs), a waste product of coffee brewing, to produce useful products such as biodiesel. Biodiesel is a sustainable alternative fuel produced through the transesterification of fatty acids and oils, both of which can be found in SCGs. Supervisor Enrico Martinez Sainz Mentor Type of work required Conduct experiments in the lab using Spent Coffee Grounds collected from local cafeterias, dry the (SCGs), extract the coffee oil from the dried grounds using a solvent and react the oil with either methanol or ethanol and a catalyst at moderate temperatures to produce the biodiesel, recover the solvent by evaporation for reusage. Websites https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/people/ptProfile?resource_id=56891 Qualifications 3.0 GPA minimum and lab experience from first year engineering chemistry courses. Credit Hours 0 Weekly Hours 0 (estimated)