Precipitation Study of B30 Blended from FAME and/or HVO and Petro Diesel Fuel

Indonesia has planned for the implementation of B30 fuel in 2020, and as a consequence, a large-scale production of biodiesel from palm oil will be significantly increased in the country. In application as public transportation fuel, biodiesel quality and blending composition play an important role for the success of the implementation of B30 program. Indonesia consists of highlands and lowlands as urban areas that have different temperature regions varying from 12 - 35°C. Cold temperature could accelerate the formation of precipitate of B30 fuels. Samples of B30 fuels were made by blending biodiesel and/or hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) with Euro 3 and Euro 4 petro diesel fuels. The precipitate composed of monoglycerol and FAME. Precipitation of the chemicals was caused by their higher melting point that crystallized and the solvency effect of petro diesel in cold temperature. It was found that the amount of precipitate formed in B30 blended from 30% FAME and 70% Euro 4 petro diesel fuel was the highest one. Therefore, the requirement for monoglycerol and moisture contents in biodiesel quality needed to be improved to avoid more precipitates formed in B30 fuel in cold temperature region.