Composition-Explicit Distillation Curves of Commercial Biodiesel Fuels: Comparison of Petroleum-Derived Fuel with B20 and B100

Published

July 2, 2008

Author(s)

Beverly L. Smith, Lisa S. Ott, Thomas J. Bruno

Abstract

We have recently introduced several important improvements in the measurement of distillation curves for complex fluids.  The modifications provide for (1) a composition explicit data channel for each distillate fraction (for both qualitative and quantitative analysis), (2) temperature measurements that are true thermodynamic state points that can be modeled with an equation of state, (3) temperature, volume and pressure measurements of low uncertainty suitable for equation of state development, (4) consistency with a century of historical data, (5) an assessment of the energy content of each distillate fraction, (6) trace chemical analysis of each distillate fraction, and (7) corrosivity assessment of each distillate fraction.  The composition explicit channel is achieved with a new sampling approach that allows precise qualitative as well as quantitative analyses of each fraction, on the fly. We have applied the new method to the measurement of rocket propellant, gasolines, jet fuels, diesel fuels and crude oils. In this paper we present the application of the technique to representative batches of commercially available biodiesel fuels sold as B20 and B100. The distillation curve data that are presented are of sufficiently low uncertainty such that they can be used for thermodynamic modeling of these complex fluids. Moreover, we present not only the distillation curves but also a chemical characterization of the 0.025, 10, 50, and 80 % fractions, and discuss the contrasts between the various mixtures.

Citation

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

Volume

47

Issue

16

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

B100, B20, biodiesel fuel, boiling curve, complex fluids, distillation curve

Citation

Smith, B. , Ott, L. and Bruno, T. (2008), Composition-Explicit Distillation Curves of Commercial Biodiesel Fuels: Comparison of Petroleum-Derived Fuel with B20 and B100, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=50672 (Accessed May 7, 2026)

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