abstract
Viscosity is an important biodiesel parameter, subject to specifications and with an impact on the fuel quality. A model that could predict the value of viscosity of a biodiesel based on the knowledge of its composition would be useful in the optimization of biodiesel production processes and the planning of blending of raw materials and refined products. This work aims at evaluating the predictive capability of several models previously proposed in the literature for the description of the viscosities of biodiesels and their blend with other fuels. The models evaluated here are Ceriani's, Krisnangkura's, and Yuan's models, along with a revised version of Yuan's model proposed here. The results for several biodiesel systems show that revised Yuan's model proposed provides the best description of the experimental data with an average deviation of 4.65%, as compared to 5.34% for Yuan's model, 8.07% for Ceriani's model, and 7.25% for Krisnangkura's model. The same conclusions were obtained when applying these models to predict the viscosity of blends of biodiesel with petrodiesel.
keywords
TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT VISCOSITY; KINEMATIC VISCOSITY; SOYBEAN BIODIESEL; BINARY-MIXTURES; DIESEL FUEL; DENSITIES; BLENDS; ACID; OIL; ESTERS
subject category
Energy & Fuels; Engineering
authors
Freitas, SVD; Pratas, MJ; Ceriani, R; Lima, AS; Coutinho, JAP
our authors
Maria Jorge Pratas
Science and Technology Manageracknowledgements
Samuel Freitas acknowledges a Ph.D. Grant from Fundacao Oriente and also financial support from the University of Aveiro. Maria Jorge Pratas acknowledges financial support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia through her Ph.D. Grant (SFRH/BD/28258/2006). Roberta Ceriani acknowledges financial support from Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq).