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The Effect of Biodiesel Feedstocks on InnfraRed Blend Measurements
Courtesy of AMETEK Spectro Scientific
What is the effect of biodiesel feedstocks on measurement accuracy?
This common question coming from individuals measuring the percent biodiesel in diesel leads to several other questions before the answer is complete.
How does infrared measure biodiesel content?
Fortunately for manufacturers of infrared instrumentation, biodiesel has a unique signature from diesel in the infrared range of the spectrum. This means that at a wavelength specific to biodiesel, which is the carbonyl band at 5.73 micrometers (1745cm-1). the intensity of the absorbance increases as the concentration of biodiesel increases (see Figure 1). The change in absorbance is correlated to a percent biodiesel value.
How does the feedstock make biodiesel different?
The primary difference between the fatty acid esters in oils from various feedstocks is the length of the hydrocarbon chains and the number and position of the C=C bonds. Most feedstocks such as soy, canola and yellow grease (or waste vegetable oil-WVO) have chain lengths between CI 6 and C22 with CI 8 predominating.
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