Evaluation and enhancement of cold flow properties of palm oil and its biodiesel

Abstract

Cold flow properties are the main issue to regular usage of Palm biodiesel as alternative fuel to diesel. The inferior cold flow property of biodiesel causes gum formation and crystallization of fuel particles which can be enhanced by winterization, blending and addition of cold flow improvers. The objective of this study is to improve cold flow properties of biodiesel obtained from palm oil. Blending and using of cold flow improver were adopted among various methods to enhance the cold flow properties. Results of the study show that with B20 blend of biodiesel using petroleum diesel and kerosene has significant improvement of the cold flow properties. Diesel improves CP and PP by 57.61% and 78.57% whereas kerosene improves CP and PP by 62.94% and 85.78% respectively for B20 blend. Ethanol had remarkable impact as 20% addition improves CP and PP by 60.48% and 63.96% respectively. The investigation concludes that PE80 is recommended as a fuel for engine operation under low temperature regions. For improving the cold flow properties, addition of cold flow improver is best method to attain the desired values of cold flow properties for biodiesel.