New Certified Rapeseed-Based Biodiesel Reference Material for Effective Biodiesel Testing

Abstract

The ‘White Paper on Internationally Compatible Biofuels Standards’, published by a task force of biofuels experts from Brazil, the European Union, and the United States in 2007, recommended the “development of internationally-accepted reference methods and certified reference materials ... that underpin assessment of product quality, and help facilitate trade.” To meet this need, the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements has released ERM-EF001, the first rapeseed-based biodiesel certified reference material, which is certified for selected parameters specified by the European Committee for Standardization in 2012 in standard EN 14214, i.e., the mass fraction of the ester, linolenic acid methyl ester, monoglyceride, diglyceride, triglyceride, total glycerol, and water content, density, viscosity, oxidation stability, acid value, iodine value, and flash point. All parameters are considered as method-defined measurands and can only be obtained by following the procedures specified in EN 14214. This article describes in detail the steps taken to produce this certified reference material.

Bias and Imprecision in the Determination of Free Glycerin in Biodiesel: The Unexpected Role of Limitations in Solubility

“…Unfortunately, internationally recognized certified reference materials, (e.g. those from NIST, or IRMM) for concentrations of FG in a biodiesel matrix, which would allow for more complete estimates of accuracy and bias in many situations, are yet to be developed [29]. Thus, systematic biases and other inaccuracies can remain hidden.…”