Abstract
In the present work, the measured cetane numbers (CN) of pure fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), as well as the FAME compositions and the reported CN of 59 kinds of biodiesels collected from literature were used to develop a simple model involving as more FAME component as possible for predicting CN of biodiesel from its FAME composition. Two different regression equations correlating the CN of pure FAME with the carbon number of fatty acid chain were obtained by regression analysis, which shows that the dependence of the CN on the carbon number varies with the unsaturated degree of fatty acid chain. The 59 biodiesels were divided into two categories and used, respectively to develop and test a multiple linear regression model (MLRM) correlating the CN of biodiesel with its FAME composition. A simple and convenient regression equation with a high accuracy and a good reproducibility (average absolute error of 0.49 CN for testing set and 1.52 CN for all data) were developed, showing excellent correlation (R 2: 0.9904 for testing set). The model developed in the present work can be used conveniently to give a satisfactory predicted CN of biodiesel from the FAME composition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Demirbas A (2007) Importance of biodiesel as transportation fuel. Energ Policy 35:4661–4670
Johnston M, Holloway T (2007) A global comparison of national biodiesel production potentials. Environ Sci Technol 41:7967–7973
Ladommatos N, Parsi M, Knowles A (1996) The effect of fuel cetane improver on diesel pollutant emissions. Fuel 75:8–14
Ghosh P, Jaffe SB (2006) Detailed composition-based model for predicting the cetane number of diesel fuels. Ind Eng Chem Res 45:346–351
DeFries TH, Indritz D, Kastrup RV (1987) Prediction of cetane number by group additivity and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance. Ind Eng Chem Res 26:188–193
Gülder ÖL, Glavincevski B (1986) Prediction of cetane number of diesel fuels from carbon type structural composition determined by proton NMR spectroscopy. Ind Eng Chem Prod Res Dev 25:153–156
Ladommatos N, Goacher J (1995) Equations for predicting the cetane number of diesel fuels from their physical properties. Fuel 74:1083–1093
Yang H, Ring Z, Briker Y, McLean N, Friesen W, Fairbridge C (2002) Neural network prediction of cetane number and density of diesel fuel from its chemical composition determined by LC and GC–MS. Fuel 81:65–74
Freedman B, Bagby MO (1990) Predicting cetane numbers of n-alcohols and methyl esters from their physical properties. J Am Oil Chem Soc 67:565–571
Bose PK (2009) Empirical approach for predicting the cetane number of biodiesel. International J Autom Technol 10(4):421–429
Lapuerta M, Rodríguez-Fernández J, de Mora EF (2009) Correlation for the estimation of the cetane number of biodiesel fuels and implications on the iodine number. Energ Policy 37:4337–4344
Graboski MS, McCormick RL (1998) Combustion of fat and vegetable oil derived fuels in diesel engines. Prog Energ Comb Sci 24:125–164
Knothe G (2008) “Designer” biodiesel: optimizing fatty ester composition to improve fuel properties. Energ Fuels 22:1358–1364
Marchetti JM, Miguel VU, Errazu AF (2007) Possible methods for biodiesel production. Renew Sust Energ Rev 11:1300–1311
Mohibbe Azam M, Waris A, Nahar NM (2005) Prospects and potential of fatty acid methyl esters of some non-traditional seed oils for use as biodiesel in India. Biomass Bioenerg 29:293–302
Sharma YC, Singh B, Upadhyay SN (2008) Advancements in development and characterization of biodiesel: a review. Fuel 87:2355–2373
Knothe G (2005) Dependence of biodiesel fuel properties on the structure of fatty acid alkyl esters. Fuel Process Technol 86:1059–1070
Bamgboye AI, Hansen AC (2008) Prediction of cetane number of biodiesel fuel from the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) composition. Int Agrophys 22:21–29
Ramos MJ, Fernández CM, Casas A, Rodríguez L, Pérez A (2009) Influence of fatty acid composition of raw materials on biodiesel properties. Bioresour Technol 100:261–268
Van Gerpen J (1996) Cetane number testing of biodiesel. In: Proceedings of the 3rd liquid fuel conference, American society of agricultural engineers, Nashville, TN, pp 197–206
Wadumesthrige K, Smith JC, Wilson JR, Salley SO, Ng KYS (2008) Investigation of the parameters affecting the cetane number of biodiesel. J Am Oil Chem Soc 85:1073–1081
Gopinath A, Puhan S, Nagarajan G (2009) Relating the cetane number of biodiesel fuels to their fatty acid composition: a critical study. Proc I MechE Part D J Autom Eng 223:565–583
Ramadhas AS, Jayaraj S, Muraleedharan C, Padmakumari K (2006) Artificial neural networks used for the prediction of the cetane number of biodiesel. Renew Energ 31:2524–2533
Ma F, Hanna MA (1999) Biodiesel production: a review. Bioresour Technol 70:1–15
Rashid U, Anwar F, Moser BR, Knothe G (2008) Moringa oleifera oil: a possible source of biodiesel. Bioresour Technol 99:8175–8179
Klopfenstein WE (1985) Effect of molecular weights of fatty acid esters on cetane numbers as diesel fuels. J Am Oil Chemi Soc 62:1029–1031
Knothe G, Bagby MO, Ryan TW (1997) Cetane numbers of fatty compounds: influence of compound structure and of various potential cetane improvers. SAE Technical Paper Series 971681
Knothe G, Dunn RO, Bagby MO (1997) Biodiesel: the use of vegetable oils and their derivatives as alternative diesel fuels. ACS Symposium Series 666, pp 172–208. doi:10.1021/bk-1997-0666.ch010
Knothe G, Matheaus AC, Ryan TW (2003) Cetane numbers of branched and straight-chain fatty esters determined in an ignition quality tester. Fuel 82:971–975
Geller DP, Goodrum JW (2004) Effects of specific fatty acid methyl esters on diesel fuel lubricity. Fuel 83:2351–2356
Goering CE, Schwab A, Daugherty MJ, Pryde EH, Keakin AJ (1981) Fuel properties of eleven vegetable oils. ASAE Tech Paper, OSTI ID: 6493624
Kinast JA (2003) Production of biodiesels from multiple feedstocks and properties of biodiesels and biodiesel/diesel blends. NREL Repots, NREL/SR-510-31460
Soumanou MM, Bornscheuer UT (2003) Improvement in lipase-catalyzed synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters from sunflower oil. Enzyme Microb Technol 33:97–103
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 program, No. 2007CB210203) and the Scientific Research Foundation for Young Teachers of Sichuan University (No. 2009SCU11104). The supervision of academician Qingshi Zhu is highly appreciated.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Tong, D., Hu, C., Jiang, K. et al. Cetane Number Prediction of Biodiesel from the Composition of the Fatty Acid Methyl Esters. J Am Oil Chem Soc 88, 415–423 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1672-0
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-010-1672-0