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Title: Designing a Biodiesel Fuel with Optimized Fatty Acid Composition

Author
item Knothe, Gerhard

Submitted to: American Chemical Society National Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/19/2007
Publication Date: 8/19/2007
Citation: Knothe, G.H. 2007. Designing a Biodiesel Fuel with Optimized Fatty Acid Composition [abstract]. American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, MA.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Biodiesel is an alternative to petroleum-derived diesel fuel, although it can replace only a few percent of current petrodiesel production. It is technically competitive with petrodiesel. Technical problems with biodiesel are oxidative stability, cold flow increased nitrogen oxides (NOx) exhaust emissions. These aspects are influenced by the fatty acid profile of the biodiesel used. Other important properties of a diesel fuel are cetane number, viscosity and lubricity. Saturated fatty esters possess poor cold flow properties to biodiesel but offer advantage in terms of oxidative stability and combustion properties. Conversely, unsaturated fatty esters, especially polyunsaturated species possess better cold flow properties to biodiesel but less advantageous oxidative stability and combustion properties. Biodiesel fuels generally contain mixtures of these compounds with property trade-offs. This leads to the question of how to design a compositionally modified biodiesel fuel acceptable with respect to all important properties affected by fatty acid composition.