Biodiesel is a fuel composed of long-chain fatty acid esters produced from vegetable oil or animal fat. Cloud point is minimum temperature at which the biodiesel starts to gel or crystallize. Low cloud point biodiesel is desirable for use in colder climates or low temperature application such as aviation fuel. Urea has previously been shown to form a complex around the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) contained in the biodiesel blend, which results in separation of a low cloud point fraction. Previous methods using urea required large amounts of solvent and are not efficient on a large industrial scale. To improve this process, experimental parameters studied included the use of different additives, varying reaction times and temperatures, and varying crystallization temperatures to determine the optimum conditions for low cloud point. Additives other than urea included solid absorbents and other small molecules. The results of this study concluded that the cloud point of biodiesel can be lowered to varying degrees using urea combined with other additives. The best results were obtained using Trysil as a solid additive with others showing promise. Full results will be reported.

Cloud point reduction of biodiesel using urea complexation

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