Analysis of Biodiesel Blends by FTIR

Introduction

Biodiesel fuel is a fuel for diesel engines that is derived from the fats and oils of natural life forms as the raw material. This fuel is receiving much attention as a means of helping to prevent global warming, and its practical use is being advanced in every country around the world. Biodiesel fuel is produced through the conversion of fats and oils into fatty acid methyl esters (abbreviated as FAME) by the process of methyl esterification, in which glycerin is removed. FAME has many advantages, including the fact that it does not generate sulfur oxides during combustion, can be freely mixed with petroleum oil, and has a high flash point as well as high lubricity. The European standard specifies a 5% upper limit of FAME in automotive fuel, and the Japanese standard conforms to this limit as well. This Application News introduces the use of FTIR transmittance measurement by the horizontal ATR method to generate a FAME calibration curve for fuel mixtures with 5% or less FAME content.

July 16, 2008 GMT