Chain Fatty Acid Methyl Esters Research Articles

Biodiesel production from Rhodosporidium toruloides by acidic ionic liquids catalyzed hydrothermal liquefaction

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) has been proved to be an efficient method to disrupt cell walls and extract lipids from oleaginous yeast. However, many steps are needed for converting bio-oil into fatty acid methyl esters after HTL. Herein, acidic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate ([Bmim][HSO4]) was introduced as the catalyst in HTL to convert oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides to biodiesel in one step. [Bmim][HSO4] has dual effects on cell wall disruption and transesterification in reactions. As a result, the biodiesel yield achieved as high as 15.1 ± 3.2 % in optimal condition. The biodiesel was composed of long chain fatty acid methyl esters, and the higher heating value was 40.62 ± 0.05 MJ·kg−1. After the catalyst recycled 4 times, the catalytic efficiency still kept at 62.8 ± 2.1 %. The results indicated catalytic HTL was a direct and efficient method for biodiesel production from Rhodosporidium toruloides.

Characterization of physico-chemical properties of biodiesel components using smart data mining approaches

Biodiesels are the most probable future alternatives for petroleum fuels due to their easy accessibility and extraction, comfortable transportation and storage and lower environmental pollutions. Biodiesels have wide range of molecular structures including various long chain fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) and fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) with different thermos-physical properties. Therefore, reliable methods estimating the ester properties seems necessary to choose the appropriate one for a special diesel engine. In the present study, the effort was developing a set of novel and robust methods for estimation of four important properties of common long chain fatty acid methyl and ethyl esters including density, speed of sound, isentropic and isothermal compressibility, directly from a number of basic effective variables (i.e. temperature, pressure, molecular weight and normal melting point). Stochastic gradient boosting (SGB) and genetic programming (GP) as innovative and powerful mathematical approaches in this area were applied and implemented on large datasets including 2117, 1048, 483 and 310 samples for density, speed of sound, isentropic and isothermal compressibility, respectively. Statistical assessments revealed high applicability and accuracy of the new developed models (R2 > 0.99 and AARD < 1.7%) and the SGB models yield more accurate and confident predictions.

Structural Identification of Monounsaturated Branched Chain Fatty Acid Methyl Esters by Combination of Electron Ionization and Covalent Adduct Chemical Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

Monounsaturated normal fatty acids (n-MUFA) and saturated branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) are structurally characterized by separate tandem mass spectrometry methods for double bond localization and for chain branching in their respective fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) derivatives; however, these methods have never been applied to branched monounsaturated FAME. Here, we report application of electron ionization (EI)-MS/MS and solvent-mediated covalent adduct chemical ionization (CACI)-MS/MS of monounsaturated BCFA methyl esters (MUBCFAME) of a chain length of 15-20 carbons. A novel system was used to implement CI with low vapor pressure reagents in a tabletop triple quadrupole MS. Anteiso-MUBCFA EI-MS/MS of the molecular ion (M) yields a characteristic diagnostic ion [M-29]+. iso-MUBCFA can be distinguished from n-MUFA by an ion intensity ratio of [M-32]+/[M-43]+, with iso-MUBCFA yielding a ratio greater than 1.7, while n-MUFA yields a ratio less than 1.0. Chain branching at the iso and anteiso positions, terminal isopropyl and sec-butyl, respectively, do not alter CACI-MS/MS diagnostic ions compared to normal BCFA, enabling double bond positions of MUBCFA to be determined with the analogous α and ω diagnostic ions from cleavage on both sides of the erstwhile double bond. Taken together, this straightforward FAME-based technique via combination of EI-MS/MS and CACI-MS/MS enables fundamental structural identification of MUBCFA without standards.

Spatial repellency, antifeedant activity and toxicity of three medium chain fatty acids and their methyl esters of coconut fatty acid against stable flies.

Stable flies are one of the most detrimental arthropod pests to livestock. With changing climates and agronomic practices, they expand their roles as pests and disease vectors as well. Their painful bites reduce livestock productivity, annoy companion animals, and interfere with human recreational activities. Current management technologies are unable to effectively control stable flies. The present study reports new results concerning the contact, spatial repellency, and toxicity of a bio-based product, coconut fatty acid and their methyl ester derivatives of free fatty acids of C8:0 , C10:0 and C12:0 to stable flies. Three medium chain fatty acid methyl esters (C8:0 , C10:0 and C12:0 ) showed strong antifeedant activity against stable flies and their strengths were dose-dependent. Only the C8:0 acid, C8:0 - and C10:0 methyl esters elicited significant antennal responses. Laboratory single cage olfactometer bioassays revealed that coconut fatty acid and C8:0 methyl ester displayed active spatial repellency. All three methyl esters showed strong toxicity against stable flies. Antifeedant activity is the main method through which coconut fatty acid deters stable fly blood-feeding. The C8:0 , C10:0 and C12:0 methyl esters act not only as strong antifeedants, but also possess strong toxicity against stable fly adults. Limited spatial repellency was observed from coconut fatty acid and C8:0 methyl ester. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

Improved Sustainable Ionic Liquid Catalyzed Production of Symmetrical and Non‐Symmetrical Biological Wax Monoesters

Biological wax esters are important commercial products used in various industrial and medicinal fields. These valuable compounds can be synthesized via several chemical and enzymatic reactions which have some advantages and more disadvantages. In particular, many strong acid catalysts cause undesirable structural changes in unsaturated fatty acids molecules. In the present study, easily accessible 1‐hexadecyl‐3‐sulfoimidazolium chloride as an ionic liquid is screened as a mild Brønsted acid metal free catalyst for the chemical esterification, or transesterification, of equimolar amounts of long chain fatty acids or fatty acid methyl esters, respectively, with fatty alcohols in a solventless medium. The various parameters affecting the yield of the wax ester are optimized, catalyst reuse studies, and large scale synthesis are also carried out. According to this alternative practical and green process, a series of wax esters (17 examples) are produced readily in good to excellent yields. There is no undesirable geometric cis‐trans isomerization in unsaturated fatty acids under the reaction conditions used. The catalyst is also quite effective when triglycerides are converted directly to the wax esters via transesterification reaction.Practical Applications: With an effortless and environmentally friendly method developed in this study, various wax esters can be synthesized as valuable industrial materials. In order to synthesis these esters, there is not any restriction for starting compounds. The most important aspect of the developed procedures is that metallic or strong aggressive acidic catalysts are not used compared to existing procedures. It is possible to carry out large‐scale syntheses of esters with high yields.In the present study, a series of industrial and medical important wax esters are synthesized from renewable sources in a solvent‐free environment using IL‐catalyzed environmentally friendly methods.

Ultrafast gas chromatographic method for quantitative determination of total FAMEs in biodiesel: An analysis of 90 s

Several physicochemical parameters must be determined in order to verify the quality of commercial biodiesel, and the analysis of total fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) is the main parameter. Therefore, an efficient and alternative analytical method using gas chromatography coupled with ultrafast module is important. This method was developed to quantify FAMEs in biodiesel commercial samples that originated from different feedstock (babaçu, coconut, rapeseed, corn, soybean, animal/palm oil and sunflower). The chromatographic run time is 90 s. When compared with the official methods, we had a much faster one, which provided an analytical frequency of up to 205 samples a day. This analytical method has been validated according to in-house validation parameters, such as linearity, repeatability, reproducibility (intermediate precision) and accuracy. Two analytical curves were prepared, one for determinate long carbon chain FAMEs (C16–C24) and another for short carbon chain FAMEs (C6–C14). The coefficient of determination (which represents the percentage of the data that is closest to the line of best fit) was 0.9992 for the C18 curve (long chain) and the C12 curve (short chain). Repeatability and reproducibility presented a relative standard deviation of 0.75% and 1.68% for the C18 curve and 0.44% and 1.05% for the C12 curve, respectively. The accuracy had a standard error of 0.2 for soybean biodiesel, 0.4 for animal/palm commercial biodiesel and 0.2 for babaçu biodiesel.

Selective adsorption of fatty acid methyl esters onto a commercial molecular sieve or activated charcoal prepared from the &lt;i&gt;Acrocomia aculeata&lt;/i&gt; cake remaining from press-extracting the fruit kernel oil

Mixing light biodiesel at low concentrations (not exceeding 5% by volume) with mineral kerosene is thought to be an interesting alternative to aviation fossil fuels without the need for engine adjustments. From the environmental point of view, this addition would mean significantly minimizing the impacts of conventional fuel emissions. The adsorption of relatively short molecular chain (C8, C10 and C12) fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), constituents of the biodiesel produced from the macauba oil, was investigated using two types of adsorbents: A commercial molecular sieve 13X and the activated charcoal prepared from the macauba cake remaining after press-defatting the macauba fruit kernel. The adsorption experiments were performed on a glass column filled with the adsorbent. The activated charcoal is more efficient than the molecular sieve for selectively adsorbing FAME with C8, C10 and C12 carbon chains. The process of separating shorter chains from biodiesel by adsorption was proven to be adequate and does not compromise the energy balance. This study indicates that the charcoal obtained from the macauba cake remaining after extracting the oil might be suitable for the selective separation of fatty acid esters, which could potentially lead to the preparation of lighter biodiesel (of lower average molecular weight) than that produced from the crude oil.

Supercritical carbon dioxide treatment of the microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata for the production of fatty acid methyl esters

The aim of this work was to evaluate the potential of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) to extract fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from the microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata (N. oculata) at low temperatures (37 and 55°C) and pressures (5.9 and 7.6megapascals (MPa)). A qualitative gas chromatography (GC) analysis showed that the individual FAMEs extracted varied depending on the co-solvent (methanol or hexane) used with supercritical CO2. Using hexane, FAME compounds produced were similar to those extracted with soxhlet extraction alone while longer chain FAME were produced when methanol was the co-solvent. The effects of pressure and temperature variations were shown to be of statistical significance. The chromatograms produced in this work demonstrate that altering one of these parameters (co-solvent, temperature, pressure) can produce different compounds owing to the tunability of the technique.

Production of FAME biodiesel in E. coli by direct methylation with an insect enzyme.

Most biodiesel currently in use consists of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) produced by transesterification of plant oils with methanol. To reduce competition with food supplies, it would be desirable to directly produce biodiesel in microorganisms. To date, the most effective pathway for the production of biodiesel in bacteria yields fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) at up to ~1.5 g/L. A much simpler route to biodiesel produces FAMEs by direct S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) dependent methylation of free fatty acids, but FAME production by this route has been limited to only ~16 mg/L. Here we employ an alternative, broad spectrum methyltransferase, Drosophila melanogaster Juvenile Hormone Acid O-Methyltransferase (DmJHAMT). By introducing DmJHAMT in E. coli engineered to produce medium chain fatty acids and overproduce SAM, we obtain medium chain FAMEs at titers of 0.56 g/L, a 35-fold increase over titers previously achieved. Although considerable improvements will be needed for viable bacterial production of FAMEs and FAEEs for biofuels, it may be easier to optimize and transport the FAME production pathway to other microorganisms because it involves fewer enzymes.

Study on Volatility of Palm Oil Biodiesel/-10 Petrodiesel by Thermogravimetric Analysis Technique

Palm methyl ester (PME) was prepared from palm oil through transesterification using NaOH as catalyst. Chemical composition of the PME and -10 petrodiesel (-10PD) was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The PME and -10PD were characterized for their fuel properties including density, kinematic viscosity, and flash point, cold filter plugging point, sulfur content, copper strip corrosion and oxidative stability. Volatility was measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Volatile index was proposed to describe PME/-10PD volatility. A good correlation model was put forward for calculating the PME/-10PD volatility by PME blending ratio. The study showed that PME was mainly composed of long chain fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs): C14:0－C24:0, C16:1－C22:1, C18:2 and C18:3. -10PD was mainly composed of long chain alkanes: C8－C26. The fuel properties of PME were within the limits prescribed in the GB/T 20828-2007 standards for biodiesel. With respect to -10PD, volatilization of PME was stronger and quicker, but volatilization onset at higher temperature. The volatilization onset temperatures of PME and -10PD were 448.9 and 361.7 K respectively; and the volatile indexes were 1.76E-04 and 3.64E-05 respectively. The PME/-10PD volatility had relation to PME blending ratio. The volatility of B0－B20 was very close to the -10PD. The volatility of B20－B100 was better with increasing the PME blending ratio.

Predicting the phase behavior of fatty acid methyl esters and their mixtures using the GC-SAFT-VR approach

Biodiesel fuels, which consist of a blend of long chain fatty acid methyl esters, have attracted increased interest in recent years as possible alternates to fuels derived from petroleum. An understanding of the thermophysical properties and phase behavior of these molecules are therefore important to the investigation and design of biodiesel processes; however, such data is limited, making the development of molecular based modeling approaches that can accurately and reliably determine the thermophysical properties of fatty acid methyl esters an important research area. Here we apply the group contribution based statistical associating fluid theory for potential of variable range (GC-SAFT-VR) equation of state to the study of long chain fatty acid methyl esters that comprise biodiesel fuels. With minimal reliance on experimental data, the GC-SAFT-VR equation of state offers a predictive approach that allows for the description of hetero-segmented chains that can correlate and predict the phase behavior of pure associating and non-associating fluids and their mixtures. Model parameters for the CO, CH3, CH2, CHCH2, OCH2, and OCH3 functional groups and their cross interactions were taken from earlier work and used here in a transferable fashion to predict the thermophysical properties and phase behavior of pure fatty acid methyl esters and their mixtures with other fatty acid methyl esters, alcohols, and carbon dioxide. It is shown that the GC-SAFT-VR approach can be used as a purely predictive tool without fitting any new model parameters) to accurately predict the phase behavior of the fatty acid methyl ester fluids and their mixtures studied.

Application of &lt;SUP&gt;1&lt;/SUP&gt;H-NMR for the Quantitative Analysis of Short Chain Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Mixtures: An Undergraduate Instrumental Analysis Experiment

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is one of the most important instrumental techniques used to elucidate the molecular structure of organic compounds. However, there are not many good simple applications of using NMR for the quantitative assay of impure or mixtures of organic substances. The current experiment was developed as part of an ongoing effort to increase exposure to quantitative proton NMR methodology in the undergraduate chemistry laboratory curriculum. The objective of the experiment is to determine the percent composition of a two component mixture of short chain fatty acid methyl esters using chemical shift and integration values obtained from running solvent-less samples both with and without an internal reference standard. We report on the experimental methods and results obtained from examining the quantitative NMR properties of a series of mixtures of methyl acetate (M.A.) and methyl propionate (M.P.) solutions ranging from 100% MA to 100% MP. Also similar data was obtained for the MA - methyl butyrate (MB) pair. The results exhibit a linear relationship of the percent composition of the methyl acetate binary mixtures found by proton NMR with the theoretical (i.e. samples prepared based on measured weights) percent compositions. The experiment confirms the quantitative usage of 1H NMR and serves as an educational tool for the undergraduate chemical laboratory.

Impact of light intensity, CO2 concentration and bubble size on growth and fatty acid composition of Arthrospira (Spirulina) platensis KMMCC CY-007

Studies on lipid accumulation and fatty acid composition of microalgae as a feedstock for biodiesel have been reported in numerous papers in recent years. However, in contrast to microalgae, documentation on cyanobacteria such as Arthrospira platensis with regard to lipid production has been sparse thus far. In this paper, we show the relatively high lipid accumulation potential of A. platensis KMMCC CY-007 in modified Schlösser medium. Four different growth conditions [7.5 candela (cd) and 1% CO2, 15 cd and 1% CO2, 7.5 cd and air, and 15 cd and air] were examined over 7 days in order to compare the impact of light intensity. Using two different growth conditions (7.5 cd and 1% CO2 bulk bubble and 7.5 cd and 1% CO2 fine bubble), changes in growth, lipid accumulation and fatty acid composition were compared. The highest lipid content of 37.96% was obtained at 7.5 cd and 1% CO2 fine bubble after 7 days, and the maximum net production (72.56%) of long chain fatty acid methyl esters (C16:0 and C18:0) detected at 7.5 cd and 1% CO2 bulk bubble. These data suggest the potential of A. platensis for production of crude lipid as a future feedstock for biodiesel production.

The effect of biodiesel fatty acid composition on combustion and diesel engine exhaust emissions

This study investigates the effect of biodiesel chemical structure on diesel engine combustion properties and exhaust emissions in mechanical injection engines, in view of future emissions reduction by tailoring the fatty acid profile or processing of bio-feedstock. To achieve this, the individual fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) that make up biodiesel were investigated for combustion and emissions. Research included the effect of FAME molecular structure (saturation degree and chain length). Selected FAME fuels included neat methyl esters and blends with rapeseed oil methyl esters (RME). Several chemical and physical properties of the fatty acids methyl esters were chosen to obtain the most significant properties in terms of PM and NOx emissions in this type of engines. Each fuel was tested in a single cylinder mechanical direct injection (DI) diesel engine for combustion and exhaust emissions, with particular emphasis upon particulate matter (PM) emissions. Statistical prediction models showed a correlation between exhaust emissions and the most significant fuel properties ranging from 88% to 97%. NOx emissions were found to increase as chain length (with exception of C18:0) and the degree of unsaturation of fatty acid methyl esters increased. Total hydrocarbons (THCs), carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic fraction (VOF) and soot emissions increases as the chain length of hydrocarbons increases. Soot produced by short chain length FAME is easier to oxidise than soot from long chain FAME. The recommendation is that shorter chain saturated FAME fuels would be preferable in a combined emissions context.

Study on Thermal Volatilization of Soybean Biodiesel and Its Blends

Thermal analysis has been employed to yield information on the volatility of the biodiesel/petrodiesel since the volatility influences the ignition quality of the fuels in a compression ignition engine. The chemical composition of -10 petrodiesel (-10PD) and soybean biodiesel (SME) was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The thermal volatilization of biodiesel and its blends was investigated by thermogravimetry and liquid volatile theory. Volatile index was put forward for describing biodiesel/petrodisel volatility. A good correlation model was proposed for calculate the biodiesel/petrodiesel volatility by biodiesel blending ratio. The study showed that -10PD was mainly composed of long chain alkanes: C8–C26. SME was mainly composed of long chain fatty acid methyl esters: C14:0–C24:0, C16:1–C22:1, C18:2 and C18:3. The volatile indexes of SME and -10PD were, respectively, 1.74E-04 and 3.64E-05. The biodiesel fuel was considerably more volatile in comparison to the petrodiesel fuels. The SME/-10PD volatility had relation to SEM blending ratio, it was better with increasing the SME blending ratio.

Structural characterization of saturated branched chain fatty acid methyl esters by collisional dissociation of molecular ions generated by electron ionization

Saturated branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) are present as complex mixtures in numerous biological samples. The traditional method for structure elucidation, electron ionization (EI) mass spectrometry, sometimes does not unambiguously enable assignment of branching in isomeric BCFA. Zirrolli and Murphy (Zirrolli , J. A. , and R. A. Murphy. 1993. Low-energy tandem mass spectrometry of the molecular ion derived from fatty acid methyl esters: a novel method for analysis of branched-chain fatty acids. J. Am. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 4: 223-229.) showed that the molecular ions of four BCFA methyl ester (BCFAME) yield highly characteristic fragments upon collisional dissociation using a triple quadrupole instrument. Here, we confirm and extend these results by analysis using a tabletop 3-D ion trap for activated molecular ion EI-MS/MS to 30 BCFAME. iso-BCFAME produces a prominent ion (30-100% of base peak) for [M-43] (M-C₃H₇), corresponding to the terminal isopropyl moiety in the original iso-BCFAME. Anteiso-FAME yield prominent ions (20-100% of base peak) corresponding to losses on both side of the methyl branch, [M-29] and [M-57], and tend to produce more prominent m/z 115 peaks corresponding to a cyclization product around the ester. Dimethyl and tetramethyl FAME, with branches separated by at least one methylene group, yield fragment on both sides of the sites of methyl branches that are more than 6 C away from the carboxyl carbon. EI-MS/MS yields uniquely specific ions that enable highly confident structural identification and quantification of BCFAME.

The Thermal Volatilization of Petrodisel/Biodiesel from Waste Oil

Thermogravimetry (TG) has been employed to yield information on the thermal volatilization of the fuels since the volatility influences the ignition quality of the fuels in a compression ignition engine. The chemical composition of -10 petrodiesel (-10PD) and waste oil biodiesel (WME) was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The thermal volatilization of biodiesel and its blends was investigated by TG and liquid volatile theory. Volatile index was put forward for describing biodiesel/petrodisel volatility. A good correlation model was proposed for calculate the biodiesel/petrodiesel volatility by biodiesel blending ratio. The study showed that -10PD and WME had similar chemical composition and structure. -10PD was mainly composed of long chain alkanes: C8–C26. WME was mainly composed of long chain fatty acid methyl esters: C14:0–C22:0, C16:1–C22:1, C18:2 and C18:3. The volatile indexes of WME and -10PD were 1.47E-04 and 3.64E-05, respectively. The biodiesel was considerably more volatile in comparison to the petrodiesel. The WME/-10PD volatility was better with increasing the biodiesel blending ratio.

Equivalent chain lengths of all C4– C23 saturated monomethyl branched fatty acid methyl esters on methylsilicone OV-1 stationary phase

Isomer mixtures of monomethyl branched saturated C7– C23 fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were prepared by performing a methylene insertion reaction to the straight chain FAME and this study model was completed by using commercially available standards of C4– C7 FAME. The equivalent chain lengths ( ECL) of all 220 C4– C23 monomethyl branched FAME on OV-1 stationary phase were measured, achieving an average repeatability of ±0.0004 ECL units. The monomethyl branched FAME was identified by GC on the basis of regularity of the fractional chain lengths ( FCL) dependence on the number of carbon atoms ( C z ) of individual homologous series of methyl 2-, 3-, …, 21-FAME. The prediction of retention of the first homologues, having the new position of methyl group beginning at higher carbon atoms number, and analogously for the second, third, fourth, and other members of the homologous series, allowed the dependence FCL = f( C z ) for the first and subsequent members of beginning homologous of monomethyl derivatives of FAME. The identification was confirmed by mass spectrometry. All of the methyl isomers of FAME, which could not be completely separated by gas chromatography due to having a methyl group in surroundings of the middle of the carbon chain, were resolved by mass spectrometry using deconvolution in a SIM-mode. Measured gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric data were applied for identification of the monomethyl branched saturated FAME in tongue coating.

An experimental and kinetic modeling study of methyl decanoate combustion

Biodiesel is typically a mixture of long chain fatty acid methyl esters for use in compression ignition engines. Improving biofuel engine performance requires understanding its fundamental combustion properties and the pathways of combustion. This research study presents new combustion data for methyl decanoate in an opposed-flow diffusion flame. An improved detailed chemical kinetic model for methyl decanoate combustion is developed, which serves as the basis for deriving a skeletal mechanism via the direct relation graph method. The novel skeletal mechanism consists of 648 species and 2998 reactions. The skeletal mechanism reproduces the behavior of the fully detailed mechanism in plug flow and stirred reactors for temperatures of 900–1800K, equivalence ratios of 0.25–2.0, and pressures of 101 and 1013kPa. This mechanism well predicts the methyl decanoate opposed-flow diffusion flame data. The results from the flame simulations indicate that methyl decanoate is consumed via abstraction of hydrogen atoms to produce fuel radicals, which lead to the production of alkenes. The ester moiety in methyl decanoate leads to the formation of low molecular weight oxygenated compounds such as carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and ketene.

Simulated Distillation for Biofuel Analysis

Simulated distillation (SimDis) is a gas chromatographic method and has evolved into an indispensable tool in petroleum industries to determine the distillation behavior of different petroleum products and to ensure fuel quality. In contrast to classic physical distillation, SimDis exhibits a range of advantages that include comparatively very small sample amounts and the possibility of automation, which are of great importance in fields of research and in the development of novel fuels. Within this work we could show that SimDis can also be used to characterize not only boiling behaviors of fossil fuels, but also alternative fuels as different kinds of biodiesel. Analysis of different kinds of biodiesel and biodiesel blends, as presented in our work, shows that shorter chain fatty acid methyl esters, as can be found in coconut oil, can significantly change the distillation characteristic to a more favorable distillation curve, which resembles a fossil diesel fuels boiling behavior. The second part of our work shows that there is a good correlation between data obtained using SimDis and conventional distillation, also in case of biodiesel. SimDis therefore can easily be used to classifiy novel biofuels, for example, also bidodiesel made of algae or novel oilseed, regarding boiling characteristics and quality.