Storage Stability and Corrosive Character of Palm Biodiesel

R. Mat; W. N. A. Wan Nor Yuhaidi; M. J. Kamaruddin; O. Hassan

Authors

R. Mat Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
W. N. A. Wan Nor Yuhaidi Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
M. J. Kamaruddin Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
O. Hassan Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

Keywords:

Biodiesel , Stability , Transesterification, Corrosion , Fuel Properties

Abstract

Biodiesel is gaining global attraction as an alternative fuel because of its biodegradability and environmental friendliness. It can be mixed with diesel fuels and used in diesel engines with no or slight modification. In Malaysia, palm oil is used as a feedstock for the production of biodiesel due to its abundant availability. This study was conducted to investigate the stability of pure palm oil biodiesel over a storage time of 2, 4 and 6 months. The static immersion test was carried out at room temperature to evaluate corrosion characteristics of biodiesel towards copper, mild steel and aluminium. The kinematic viscosity increased slightly with storage time. The results showed that copper was more prone to corrosion than aluminium and mild steel. The corrosion rate for copper is 0.5794 mpy, 0.2087 mpy for aluminium and 0.1682 mpy for mild steel for 2,016 h of immersion test.