Strategies for decreasing the pour point and cloud point of palm oil products

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to improve the low-temperature performance of palm oil products, with emphasis on non-food uses, and to find some additives (synthesized or commercially available) suitable to reduce the pour point and cloud point values of palm oil products. The samples studied in this research include palm olein (PO), super olein (SO), palm oil methyl esters (POME), palm kernel oil methyl esters (PKOME), a blend of POME and PO at a 2:1 ratio (POMEPO), a blend of POME and SO at a 2:1 ratio (POMESO), a blend of PKOME and PO at a 2:1 ratio (PKOMEPO) and a blend of PKOME and SO at a 2:1 ratio (PKOMESO). Among the additives studied in this research were Tween-80, dihydroxy fatty acid (DHFA), acrylated polyester pre-polymer, palm-based polyol (PP), a blend of DHFA and PP at a 1:1 ratio (DHFAPP), an additive synthesized using DHFA and ethyl hexanol (DHFAEH), and castor oil ricinoleate. All the additives used showed satisfactory results, with more significant reductions of pour point and cloud point values observed for POME, PKOME, POMEPO, POMESO and PKOMESO samples. The biggest reduction of the pour point value in this research was about 7.5 7C (by addition of 1.0% DHFA to POMEPO), while the biggest reduction of the cloud point value was about 10.5 7C (by addition of 1.0% DHFA 1 1.0% PP to POME). The significant reductions in pour point and cloud point values of POME, PKOME, POMEPO, POMESO and PKOMESO by the additives used indicate that the additives might be able to improve the low-temperature properties of palm oil products, for instance biodiesel.

Composition and Thermal Analysis of Lard Stearin and Lard Olein

“…As a natural outcome of the fractionation processes, the solid component is mainly consisted of the higher melting triacylglycerols of the native sample. Being a liquid at room temperature, the thermal characteristics of LO is described by cloud point, which is reasonably low-enough to resist against clouding phenomenon 18 . In fact, the cloud point displayed by LO 3.2 is comparable to the cloud point of super olein extracted from the second fractionation of crude palm olein 19 .…”

Biodiesel as Diesel Engine Fuel

“…A potential mechanism to reduce the CP of biodiesels is the use of bulky moieties that disrupt the orderly stacking of ester molecules during crystal nucleation (Knothe et al 2000). Some additives, such as Tween-80, dihydroxy fatty acid, acrylated polyester pre-polymer, palm-based polyol, and castor oil ricinoleate for palm biodiesel, reduce pour point and cloud point values of biodiesel fuels significantly (Ming et al 2005).…”

Effects of different chemical additives on biodiesel fuel properties and engine performance. A comparison review

“…As previously stated, a potential mechanism for reducing the CP of biodiesel is the use of bulky moieties that disrupt the orderly stacking of ester molecules during crystal nucleation. Details of experimental results were reported [28] to improve the low-temperature performance of palm oil products, with emphasis on non-food uses, and to find some additives (synthesized or commercially available) suitable to reduce the pour point and cloud point values of palm oil products. The samples studied in this research include palm olein (PO), super olein (SO), palm oil methyl esters (POME), palm kernel oil methyl esters (PKOME), a blend of POME and PO at a 2:1 ratio (POMEPO), a blend of POME and SO at a 2:1 ratio (POMESO), a blend of PKOME and PO at a 2:1 ratio (PKOMEPO) and a blend of PKOME and SO at a 2:1 ratio (PKOMESO).…”