Study of the oxidative stability of palm oil biodiesel in contact with automotive metallic and polymeric materials

Abstract

In the present study, the oxidative stability of palm oil biodiesel was evaluated under prolonged storage conditions, and in the presence of metallic and polymeric materials which are common both in storage and transportation of fuel, as well as motor vehicles. The stability was evaluated through the induction time, the acid value and the peroxide value. The first two parameters are regulated by national and international standards which regulate the quality of biodiesel. At the end of the 360 days of evaluation, it was found that the biodiesel exposed to copper had the greatest change in the parameters. At 20 days of storage, the biodiesel with copper presented an induction time of 2.63 hours, well below the biodiesel exposed to other materials (18 hours on average) and also below the limit value required by international standards (3 hours  in the U.S. and 6 hours in Colombia and the European Union).