Energy & Fuels, Vol.23, No.1, 1015-1023, 2009
Stabilization of Biodiesel Fuel at Elevated Temperature with Hydrogen Donors: Evaluation with the Advanced Distillation Curve Method
Recently, we introduced the concept of an advanced distillation curve measurement. The new metrology features several important aspects. First, we incorporate a composition explicit data channel for each distillate fraction (for both qualitative, quantitative, and trace analysis). The temperature, volume, and pressure measurements are of low uncertainty, and the temperatures are true thermodynamic state points that can be modeled with an equation of state. These two features make the measurements suitable for equation of state development. The approach also provides consistency with a century of historical data, an assessment of the energy content of each distillate fraction, and where needed, a corrosivity assessment of each distillate fraction. We have applied the new method to fundamental work with hydrocarbon mixtures and azeotropic mixtures, and also to real fuels. The fuels we have measured include rocket propellants, gasolines, jet fuels, diesel fuels (including oxygenated diesel fuel and biodiesel fuels), and crude oils. In this article, we show that the method can also be used to assess the combined thermal and oxidative stability of sensitive fluids such as biodiesel fuel. We also use the method to test three hydrogen donor molecules (1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline (THQ), 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene, and trans-decahydronaphthalene) for use as potential stabilizers for biodiesel fuel with this new method.