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Nowadays, biodiesel is being promoted worldwide as a sustainable and alternative to diesel fuel. However, there is still a lack of a biodiesel market in Mexico. Hence, a new initiative to reform the Mexican biofuels framework by decree includes the production and use of biodiesel. This regulation can ensure and contribute to the development of the biodiesel market in Mexico. The initiative proposes to start from the B5.8 blend by the end of 2017 and reach the B10 by 2020. Therefore, the objective of the present work was the quality assessment of biodiesel blends proposed by the new Mexican policy framework. The techniques applied were Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis, scanning electron microscopy analysis, viscosity, higher heating value, thermogravimetric analysis, refractive index, acid number, specific gravity, flash point, and copper strip corrosion based on ASTM standards. The results indicate that the biodiesel and its blends B5.8 and B10 fulfilled relevant quality specifications established in the ASTM D6751 and EN14214 standards for fuels. However, the fuel blends presented a higher heating value (HHV) diminution. The experimental HHV percentages decrease for the mandatory mixtures compared to diesel were 2.29% (B10), and 0.29% (B5.8).

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It is not justifiable to use excess of water to purify biodiesel only because it is the " most economical" method. Actually it is one of the problems in the biodiesel production industry an adequate purification method; the most commonly used one is the water washing. Currently, there is considerable interest in the biodiesel purification with other solid materials such as synthetic magnesium silicate, which is an effective absorbent to remove impurities. The two methods discussed here have been tested in similar conditions of temperature, time and concentration of reactants. It was found that it is very important to remove the remaining methanol to avoid saturation of the absorbent. The analysis concluded that residues of glycerol and soap content in the two processes are similar and efficient enough and did not find many differences. The purity requirements and analysis of biodiesel were based on the American standard ASTM D6751.

The present investigation analyzes the performance of a Hatz diesel engine that has 912 cubic centimeters (cc), stationary type, two cylinders, an air cooled feature and B10 (90% diesel and 10% palm biodiesel), using a test bench to improve statistically the repeatability and reproducibility of the runs. The experimental reference tests were carried out under defined conditions at a fixed speed of 1800 revolutions per minute (rpm) and four load levels: 35%, 50%, 65% and 80%. The repeatability analysis was based on the technical standard NTC-ISO / IEC17025. The variables of torque, fuel consumption (FC), air consumption (AC) and exhaust gas temperatures (EGT) showed an increase related with the load increase, showing a lower variation of AC and emissions. With the mechanism’s implementation of attenuator of air blows, adjustment mechanism for rpm and preheating air chamber for intake manifold, it was observed that the rpm presented the lowest statistical variability. The variables that presented the highest Pearson correlation with respect to the FC are the CO2, NOX and O2, this is because the engine does not have the Common Rail system, which causes the fuel supply to not be injected accurately and uniformly, therefore the evaluation of performance of the engine could not be repeatable.