Use of different techniques in the evaluation of the oxidative stability of poultry fat biodiesel

The poultry fat methylic (BMF) and ethylic (BEF) biodiesels were synthesized through transesterification by homogeneous basic catalysis. The chromatographic analyses showed the palmitic, stearic, oleic, and linoleic esters as majority components. Owing to its considerable amount of polyunsaturated fat acids, poultry fat usually leads to a biodiesel with low oxidative stability. In this study, the oxidation of their ethylic and methylic biodiesels was evaluated by Rancimat, PDSC, and PetroOxy. The OSI (Rancimat) was of 0.47 and 0.40 h for the ethylic and methylic biodiesel, respectively. In PDSC, both fuels presented an OT of about 120-123 A degrees C. PetroOxy analysis indicated an OxyStab of 11 min for BEF and higher than 11 min for BMF. There was no correspondence among the oxidative stabilities of the employed techniques [OT(BEF) a parts per thousand OT(BMF), OSI(BEF) > OSI(BMF), and OxyStab(BEF) < OxyStab(BMF)]. The discussion of these results was based on the indicator measured by each technique: enthalpic events are observed by PDSC; conductivity of volatile secondary oxidation products is measured by Rancimat; reduction of the oxygen pressure is determined by PetroOxy. This discussion showed that these different indicators do not reflect the same stage of the oxidative process as energy is release at the beginning of the propagation step, oxygen pressure decreases during the propagation step, and oxidation products are formed during the termination step.