Use of thermal analysis techniques for evaluation of the stability and chemical properties of papaya biodiesel (Carica Papaya L.) at low temperatures

Abstract

Biodiesel has the advantage of being renewable and clean and for these reasons has been studied recently both academically and in industry. Research in this area is focused on developing new synthetic routes to obtain a purer product or to find new alternative sources of food to replace conventional oils. Papaya biodiesel is obtained from oily residues with a fatty acid composition similar to olive oil. It is generally discarded by the ton, considering that Brazil is the world’s largest producer of papaya with an annual output of 1,811 million tons, productivity of 52 t/hectare and domestic consumption at 86.5%. This study was designed by means of thermal analysis (TG, DSC, P-DSC, and MT-DSC), to verify the possibility of achieving high quality biodiesel, with oxidative stability and flow properties previously indicated by composition analysis of its fatty esters, physical–chemical properties (including oxidative stability) using classical methodology, recommended by ASTM D 6756.