Ascorbic Acid as Antioxidant for Soybean Biodiesel

The intensive use of fossil fuels has had consequences coming from the instability of the reserves, due to the finitude of the resource, as well as the environmental impacts that the use of these fuels entails, such as the increasement of greenhouse gases. In this way, a promising alternative found to attenuate such problems is the production of biofuels, such as biodiesel, in which are used raw materials from renewable sources. They contribute to decrease dependence on oil and reduce the greenhouse effect. However, after biodiesel is produced, it is subject to degradation reaction when in contact with air, light, and temperature, which promotes the reduction of its quality. To slow down the degradation reaction, antioxidants are added to the biodiesel, providing greater oxidation stability. Antioxidants are substances that retard oxidation and can be natural, such as ascorbic acids or synthetic substances. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the efficiency of ascorbic acid as an antioxidant in soybean biodiesel. Oxidative stability tests were performed and it was observed that the best concentration of ascorbic acid in soybean biodiesel, as antioxidant, is 27.5 g L-1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17807/orbital.v10i3.109