Development of low-temperature properties on biodiesel fuel: a review

Abstract

Summary The use of biodiesel as a diesel fuel alternative is rapidly increasing. An important aspect of applying this alternative is the transportation and application in cold weather. In this article, different kinds of methods and technologies were briefly reviewed to improve the low‐temperature properties of biodiesel. The compositions of fatty acids would be effectively changed by choosing available material with high content of unsaturated fatty acids or by reducing saturated fatty acids via winterization process. Branched alcohols can be used to change biodiesel structures that improve the low‐temperature properties. As a technically feasible method, there is still a constant demand to search cost‐effective raw materials for economic branched alcohols production. In order to enhance the impact of crystal morphology and decrease freezing point, the blending chemical additives and petroleum fuels would be a promising method that have been widely used. Besides, other treatments such as epoxidation, hydroisomerization, and ozonization were also discussed. However, each method applied for improving low‐temperature properties of biodiesel should be effective and economical so that the biodiesel would continue to compete with fossil and other renewable fuels for market share. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Improvement of oxidation stability of fatty acid methyl esters derived from soybean oil via partial hydrogenation using dielectric barrier discharge plasma

“…Biodiesel is a clean, locally available, sustainable, and renewable fuel, which has received increasing attention for the current and future utilizations on transportation, power generation, heating system, and so on. Biodiesel can be synthesized via transesterification by a reaction between vegetable oils, or animal fats, and alcohol (methanol or ethanol) with a suitable catalyst in mild conditions, or without a catalyst in supercritical conditions 1‐3 . In the case of using methanol as alcohol, biodiesel is called fatty acid methyl esters (FAME).…”

A Highly Active, Readily Synthesized and Easily Separated Graphene Oxide (GO)/Polyethersulfone (PES) Catalytic Membrane for Biodiesel Production

“…Biodiesel has been proved to be readily blended with diesel fuels and could be used in current engines directly . Moreover, biodiesel has better fluidity and lubricity, which could reduce the damage to the engine and thus extend the engine life …”

Subcritical Water Extraction of Chlorella pyrenoidosa: Optimization through Response Surface Methodology

“…The rapid depletion of fossil fuels, together with the uncertain global climate in the past decade, has inevitably led to an increased commercial interest in renewable fuels. Biodiesel is viewed as an attractive potential solution to alleviate the existing dependency on petroleum-based fuels [ 1 ]. Current production of biodiesel involves methanolic transesterification of extracted plant lipids, while bioethanol is presently synthesized via anaerobic yeast fermentation of sugar molecules found in the biomass of different food crops [ 2 ].…”