Lubricity of Components of Biodiesel and Petrodiesel. The Origin of Biodiesel Lubricity

An alternative diesel fuel that is steadily gaining attention and significance is biodiesel, which is defined as the monoalkyl esters of vegetable oils and animal fats. Previous literature states that low blend levels of biodiesel can restore lubricity to (ultra-)low-sulfur petroleum-derived diesel (petrodiesel) fuels, which have poor lubricity. This feature has been discussed as a major technical advantage of biodiesel. In this work, the lubricity of numerous fatty compounds was studied and compared to that of hydrocarbon compounds found in petrodiesel. The effects of blending compounds found in biodiesel on petrodiesel lubricity were also studied. Lubricity was determined using the high-frequency reciprocating rig (HFRR) test. Dibenzothiophene, which is contained in nondesulfurized petrodiesel, does not enhance petrodiesel lubricity. Fatty compounds possess better lubricity than hydrocarbons, because of their polarity-imparting O atoms. Neat free fatty acids, monoacylglycerols, and glycerol possess better lubricity than neat esters, because of their free OH groups. Lubricity improves somewhat with the chain length and the presence of double bonds. An order of oxygenated moieties enhancing lubricity (COOH > CHO > OH > COOCH3 > CO > C−O−C) was obtained from studying various oxygenated C10 compounds. Results on neat C3 compounds with OH, NH2, and SH groups show that oxygen enhances lubricity more than nitrogen and sulfur. Adding commercial biodiesel improves lubricity of low-sulfur petrodiesel more than neat fatty esters, indicating that other biodiesel components cause lubricity enhancement at low biodiesel blend levels. Adding glycerol to a neat ester and then adding this mixture at low blend levels to low-lubricity petrodiesel did not improve petrodiesel lubricity. However, adding polar compounds such as free fatty acids or monoacylglycerols improves the lubricity of low-level blends of esters in low-lubricity petrodiesel. Thus, some species (free fatty acids, monoacylglycerols) considered contaminants resulting from biodiesel production are responsible for the lubricity of low-level blends of biodiesel in (ultra-)low-sulfur petrodiesel. Commercial biodiesel is required at a level of 1%−2% in low-lubricity petrodiesel, which exceeds the typical additive level, to attain the lubricity-imparting additive level of biodiesel contaminants in petrodiesel.