Electric properties of biodiesel in the range from 20 Hz to 20 MHz. Comparison with diesel fossil fuel

Determination of electric properties at the different steps of biodiesel (BD) production contributes to a better understanding of the influence of the variables. Measurements of complex permittivity and conductivity make possible to survey efficiently the diverse steps of the industrial-scale production process, from the conditioning of the raw material to the quality control of the final product. Moreover, electrical measurements are "non-destructive" and require relatively small sample volumes. In this work, complex permittivity spectra of BD and DF from 20Hz to 20MHz are presented. Experimental data were taken in a range of temperatures from 25 to 75 degrees C, measured with an accuracy of +/- 0.1 degrees C. The measuring system used in this work requires a sample volume of 25 cm(3) and gives the real part of permittivity (epsilon') with an accuracy better than 1%. Dielectric loss (tg delta) can be measured between 10(-2) and 10(2.) (C) 2007 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.