Thermal decomposition of biodiesel fuels produced from rapeseed, jatropha, and coffee oils with different alcohols

Thermal behaviors and the effects of various alcohols on biodiesel fuel (BDF) derived from edible oil such as rapeseed oil and inedible oils such as coffee oil and jatropha oil, were studied. TG curves in air and N-2 of rapeseed BDF, jatropha BDF, drip coffee, and BDF espresso coffee BDF synthesized from the methanol presented similar results which exhibited only one mass loss step, which is attributed to vaporization or combustion of the methyl esters. The decomposition temperature (T (d)) of rapeseed, jatropha and coffee Bt-BDF were high by about 30 A degrees C compared with the standard, Me-BDF. The amount of decomposition residue at 400 A degrees C was found to be related to the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol, with the residue becoming greater with more carbons in the alcohol. The oxidation stability of rapeseed BDF depended on the carbon chain of the alcohol. However, coffee and jatropha BDFs were stable in spite of the long chain alcohol.