New Method for Characterizing Biodiesel and Biodiesel Blends

22 September 2007

Researchers at Statoil are adapting a method originally developed to characterize oil and petroleum products for use with biodiesel and biodiesel blends.

The method is based on electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), efficient data processing, and multivariate data analysis (chemometrics).

They applied the method to biodiesel produced from rapeseed (three different oils), palm, soybean, used frying oil, recycled vegetable oil, salmon oil (two different oils), sheep tallow, and animal fat.

The ESI-MS and chemometrics method discriminated between biodiesel from different feedstocks and manufacturers, identified identify fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) and free fatty acids, and identified and quantified blend composition. The researchers used positive and negative ionization to identify specific fatty acid methyl esters or free fatty acids, respectively.

Resources:

• Ingvar Eide Kolbjørn Zahlsen.“Chemical Fingerprinting of Biodiesel Using Electrospray Mass Spectrometry and Chemometrics: Characterization, Discrimination, Identification, and Quantification in Petrodiesel” Energy Fuels, ASAP Article, 10.1021/ef700342f