Control of the Distillation Curve of Biodiesel Fuel by Cross-Metathesis Reaction Based on Fatty-Acid Composition

Biodiesel fuel (Fatty acid methyl esters: FAME) have lower volatility than petro-diesel fuel due to the larger molecular size of FAME. Recent studies report that the distillation temperature of biodiesel fuel can be lowered by the cross-metathesis reaction with short-chain olefin using ruthenium catalyst. In this study, the effect of cross-metathesis reaction conditions on the distillation characteristics of reformulated biodiesel fuel is investigated to reveal the reaction conditions for fitting the distillation curve of biodiesel fuels to that of petro-diesel fuel. Furthermore, the reactivity of typical biodiesel fuels such as RME (rapeseed oil), SME (soybean oil), and WME (waste cooking oil) for cross-metathesis reaction were examined to reveal the reaction conditions appropriate for their fatty-acid compositions.