Effect of biodiesel structural configuration on its ignition quality.

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel consisting of alkyl esters of fatty acids from vegetable oils or animal fats. The properties of biodiesel depend on the type of vegetable oil used for the transesterification process. Cetane number is one of the most significant properties to specify the ignition quality of any fuel. The cetane number of biodiesel fuels is considerably influenced by their fatty acid methyl ester composition. The objective of this work is to investigate the influence of fatty acid methyl ester composition on cetane number of biodiesel fuels. In the present work, 15 various biodiesel fuels were prepared and their cetane number was measured experimentally. A wide literature review was made and the measured cetane numbers were compared with the reported values. The dependence of cetane number of biodiesel fuels on their fatty acid ester composition investigated. It was found from the investigation that the unsaturation percentage can significantly affect the cetane number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]