Abstract
The effect of saturated monoglyceride (SMG) content of four B100s on the cloud point (CP) of blends with four diesel fuels was examined. Detecting CP with a more sensitive light-scattering method allowed observation of an early (higher temperature) CP in blends containing approximately 0.01 wt.% to 0.03 wt.% SMG. Blend samples with SMG content in this range may be particularly prone to unexpected filter clogging above the measured CP. Results for a 140 blend sample matrix revealed that SMG content had a larger effect on CP than other blend properties. An increase of 0.01 wt.% SMG in a biodiesel blend increased CP by as much as 4 C. At a constant SMG level, increasing biodiesel content lowered CP, as did increasing the diesel fuel aromatic content, by improving the solubility of SMG. This implies that lowering the SMG content of a B100 allows preparation of higher biodiesel content blends having the same or lower CP. Increasing the unsaturated monoglyceride-to-SMG ratio by blending in monoolein lowered CP, presumably because monoolein inhibits nucleation of SMG. In most blends with SMG content above 0.01 wt.%, polymorphic phase transformation of crystallized SMG (converting from the metastable α-form to the less soluble, stable β-form) was observed.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 302-309 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Fuel Processing Technology |
Volume | 118 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2014 |
NREL Publication Number
- NREL/JA-5400-57591
Keywords
- Biodiesel blends
- Cloud point
- Low-temperature
- Saturated monoglyceride