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Title: Applications of NMR to Biodiesel Research

Author
item Knothe, Gerhard

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2007
Publication Date: 5/13/2007
Citation: Knothe, G.H. 2007. Applications of NMR to Biodiesel Research [abstract]. Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society, Quebec City, Canada.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Biodiesel, an alternative diesel fuel derived from vegetable oils, animal fats or used frying oils, is technically competitive with petroleum-derived diesel fuel. Technical issues facing biodiesel include oxidative stability, improvement of cold flow properties and reduction of nitrogen oxides exhaust emissions. Analytical methods play a significant role in enhancing the understanding of the basic properties determining how and why these problems occur. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR) is an analytical method that has found only little attention up to the present in applications related to biodiesel research. 1H-NMR can be used to determine the fatty acid profile and from this information insights on the fatty acid composition of oxidized biodiesel can be obtained. Another application is low-temperature research with the 1H-NMR spectra displaying changes at the cloud point of biodiesel.