Study on low temperature properties of palm oil methyl esters-petrodiesel blends

Synergistic properties, especially low temperature properties (e.g. pour point and cloud point), can be achieved by blending palm oil methyl esters with petroleum diesel in appropriate ratios. In a preliminary study, appropriate blending of palm oil methyl esters-petrol diesel at 70%-80% palm oil methyl esters led to a decrease in pour point temperature. A decrease in cloud point temperature was also noted at mixtures of 90% palm oil methyl esters with petrol diesel. A similar phenomenon was observed in the viscosity properties of the palm oil methyl esters-petrol diesel mixture. Further improvement in the low temperature properties (e.g. pour point temperature) of the palm oil methyl esters-diesel mixtures at 3oC can be achieved by adding 1% of a palm-based additive. However, the blended palm oil methyl esters-petrol diesel fluid resulted in an increase in viscosity. The decrease in low temperature properties (both pour point and cloud point) in the blended palm oil methyl esters-petrol diesel mixtures and in the presence of the additive was suspected to be mainly due to the disruption and changes in the molecular orientation and arrangement on both the palm oil methyl esters and the petrol diesel