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Title: Fuel Properties of Biodiesel/Ultra-low Sulfur Diesel Blends

Author
item Dunn, Robert
item Moser, Bryan

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2008
Publication Date: 5/18/2008
Citation: Dunn, R.O., Moser, B.R. 2008. Fuel Properties of Biodiesel/Ultra-low Sulfur Diesel Blends [abstract]. Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society. p. 79.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Biodiesel is an alternative fuel and fuel extender made from transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats with methanol or ethanol. The National Biodiesel Board estimated that biodiesel production in the United States increased from 250 million gal in 2006 to 450 million gal in 2007. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandated that sulfur content of on-road diesel fuel be limited to a maximum content of 15 ppm to prevent poisoning of exhaust after-treatment devices required in 2007. Hydrotreating fuels to produce this "ultra-low" sulfur diesel fuel (ULSD) alters fuel properties such as lubricity and cold flow. It is known that adding 1-2 vol% biodiesel to ULSD restores the lost lubricity. However, there exists a need to better define the effects of biodiesel on fuel properties in blends with ULSD. This work examines effects of blending fatty acid methyl esters of soybean oil (SME) and used cooking oil (UCOME) on cloud point (CP), kinematic viscosity, specific gravity (SG), and refractive index (RI) in blends with low sulfur (maximum 500 ppm) diesel fuel (LSD) and ULSD. All properties tested increased with respect to increasing blend ratio (vol% biodiesel) for blends with LSD and ULSD. Blends of SME and RME in ULSD from three different sources yielded inconsistent results for CP, viscosity and SG suggesting that the processing steps for ULSD are not consistent. Some properties demonstrated they may be employed to quickly estimate or verify blend ratio in blended fuels. Finally, some SG data were converted into API gravity for biodiesel/diesel fuel blends.