engleski

The Influence of the Alcohol Butanol Structural Branching and the Feedstock Type on the Synthesis and Application Properties of Fatty Acid Iso(butyl) Esters

Biodiesel, as a renewable fuel, is interesting to researchers due to its advantages over mineral diesel, e.g. lower toxicity, higher lubricity, lower sulfur content or biodegradability. In this research, different biodiesels were synthesized using sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, coconut oil, animal fat or waste cooking oil as a triglyceride sources and butanol or isobutanol, as an alcohol. Butanol can be obtained via fermentation processes, therefore contributing to the sustainability of biodiesel production, whereas the presence of structural branching can influence final application fuel properties, i.e. low- temperature properties. Potassium hydroxide was used to catalyze transesterification reactions. After nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of each synthesized biodiesel, reaction conversions were calculated and compared. When butanol was used, the highest conversion of 99.99 % was achieved in majority of reaction systems, at upper limit parameter values. However, the presence of structural branching changes interactions between reactants, resulting in the conversion above 96 % only in the specific cases, e.g. isobutanol/rapeseed oil system with the molar reactant ratio of 12:1. Furthermore, to investigate the influence of structural differences in fatty acid and alcohol moieties on biodiesel application properties, biodiesels obtained from sunflower oil were purified and their density, viscosity, cold filter plugging point and lubricity was analyzed according to standardized tests.

biodiesel ; transesterification ; butanol ; isobutanol

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