Effect of palm oil biodiesel blends (B10 and B20) on physical and mechanical properties of nitrile rubber elastomer

Abstract

Alternative fuels, such as biodiesel, play an important role in protecting the global environment. Biodiesel obtained from palm oil holds promising applications for compression ignition or diesel engines. However, one major concern associated with the adoption of biodiesel is the degradation and material incompatibility between biodiesel and the existing fuel system. Changes in fuel composition with the introduction of biodiesel often create many problems in which the elastomer is normally used as the fuel hose material in a diesel engine fuel system. This study investigated the effect of palm oil biodiesel blends (B10 and B20) on the nitrile rubber elastomer's physical and mechanical properties, such as mass and volume change, hardness, and tensile strength. Biodiesel blends were found to affect the mechanical properties of the elastomer, causing the fuel hose to swell. After an immersion of the elastomers in the biodiesel blends at room temperature for five weeks, biodiesel properties, such as density and viscosity, were also examined. The density and viscosity were found to increase in the blends with increasing biodiesel content. The result of the study shows that the density and kinematic viscosity increased with the percentage of biodiesel blends. The elastomer increased mass change by 58.1%, the volume change by 58%, the tensile strength by 53.5% and the hardness by 52% with increasing biodiesel blends.