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Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 5/3/2015 Publication Date: 5/3/2015 Citation: Dunn, R.O. 2015. Cold flow properties of fatty acid methyl esters: Additives versus diluents [abstract]. Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society. Abstract No. 61735. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Biodiesel is typically composed of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) converted from agricultural lipids. Common feedstocks include soybean oil, canola oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, and palm oil. Recent debate on the conversion of edible oils into non-food products has created opportunities to develop alternative non-edible oil feedstocks such as jatropha oil, used cooking oil, waste grease, and animal fat. The cold flow properties of biodiesel are relatively poor compared to conventional diesel fuel (petrodiesel). Vehicles fueled by biodiesel/ petrodiesel blends may experience start-up and operability problems if exposed to overnight temperatures below the cloud point (CP). Performance issues are exacerbated when the biodiesel is made from high-saturated fatty acid feedstocks including many of the aforementioned non-edible oils. Many technical strategies have been devised to improve the cold flow properties of biodiesel. Although cold flow improver (CFI) additives can decrease pour point (PP) and cold filter plugging point (CFPP), many of these additives do not affect the CP of biodiesel and biobiodiesel/petrodiesel blends when employed at low concentrations (< 1 %). In contrast, increasing the concentration of some additives (diluents) has been shown to be more effective. This report provides an updated perspective on the development of new CFI additives and diluents for biodiesel. |
