Synthesis of Biodiesel from Low-Cost Vegetable Oil and Prediction of the Fuel Properties of a Biodiesel-Diesel Mixture

The depletion of crude reserves and turbulent global and local economy leads to ever increasing prices of petroleum-based fuels. Refineries all across the globe are forced to process heavy crude and high sulfur crude which in effect embraces pollution problems on combustion front unless advanced technologies are implemented. All of these factors point toward the search of sustainable substitutes for conventional energy sources. In this scenario, the prospect of using biodiesel as an environment-friendly and sustainable energy source is very promising. Several countries are opting for a blend of 5-20% of biodiesel with conventional petro-based diesel. In this study, a generalized model is proposed for the prediction of important fuel properties of a biodiesel-diesel mixture. The model utilizes properties of each component along with its fractional composition in the mixture. Performance of the model has been evaluated for various biodiesel-diesel blends, where biodiesel were synthesized from diversified sources namely soybean, sunflower, ricebran, cottonseed oil etc. It has been clearly observed that the developed model is able to predict density, viscosity, cetane number, and pour point quite accurately irrespective of the source of biodiesel. The simple model can be utilized to predict the blending proportions of biodiesel with petro-based diesel in order to meet ASTM specification of the blended fuel.