Viscosity Of Biodiesel Fuels Research Articles

Producing Renewable Biodiesel Fuel Using the Transesterification Process

Biodiesel fuels are considered an alternative to fossil fuels. This is one of the effective means of transferring solar energy to dynamic energy via photosynthesis. It is also being considered in order to reduce the levels of carbon dioxide production worldwide. Biodiesel fuels are a renewable, biodegradable, and clean energy source. Producing enough biofuels to replace fossil fuels will bring the advantages of reduced air pollution and reduced other environmental impacts of fossil fuels. In this study, the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design the experimental runs and to discuss the manufacturing variables on the transesterification of palm oil into fatty acid methyl ester (i.e. biodiesel fuel). The variation of the degree of effect for each variable in the transesterification process was observed. A second-order model was obtained to predict the yield of biodiesel fuel and the viscosity as a function of the reaction time, the mass fraction of catalyst in methanol and the molar ratio of methanol to plant oil. The experimental data of the yield and the viscosity of biodiesel fuels in different manufacturing variables are discussed in this study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also applied to discuss the main factor and interaction factor effects of the manufacturing variables on the responses of the yield of unrefined biodiesel fuels. The shortage of farmland in Taiwan is a problem that needs to be solved before mass propagation of biofuels can be accomplished. In southeastern Asia, there are many farms and most energy farm products are cultivated (e.g. palm oil or Jatropha oil). In addition to sunflowers and soybeans in Taiwan, those energy farm products are possible choices for production of biodiesel fuel in Taiwan. The cooperation between Indonesia and Taiwan on the plantation of palm or Jatropha trees in Indonesia has conducted and will be one of the possible ways to solve the problem of the shortage of energy farm products in Taiwan.

Impact of biodiesel fuel on cold starting of automotive direct injection diesel engines

The use of biodiesel fuels in diesel engines is gaining attention as a promising solution to control CO2 emissions. Great research efforts have been carried out to identify the impact of biodiesel physical and chemical properties on engine systems and processes. Most of these investigations were performed in warm conditions, but the suitability of biodiesel for starting the engine at under-zero ambient temperatures has not widely evaluated. The surface tension and the viscosity of biodiesel fuels are higher compared to those of standard diesel and, in cold conditions, these differences become critical since the injection fuel rate is largely affected and consequently the combustion process can be deteriorated. In order to improve its flow characteristics at cold temperatures and make them more suitable for low temperatures operation, additives are used in biodiesel fuels. In this paper the suitability of different biodiesel fuels, with and without additives, for cold starting of DI (direct injection) diesel engines has been evaluated. The results have shown that the engine start-ability with pure biodiesel fuels can be largely deteriorated. However, using diesel/biodiesel blends the start-ability of the engine can be recovered with the additional benefit of reducing the opacity peak of the exhaust gases.