(180j) Viscosity of Binary Mixtures of Soybean + Canola, + Coconut, and + Corn Biodiesel at Different Temperatures

Renewable energy has gained an important attention on the last decades due to the decreasing oil supply and increasing environmental consciousness. The production of biodiesel from vegetable oils is one of the alternatives on the world strategy to expand renewable energy sources. Vegetable oils are biodegradable, non-toxic, and can significantly contribute to reduce pollution, when transesterified to biodiesel.

Soybean, canola, coconut and corn oils are different kinds of vegetable oil that can be used to produce biodiesel. Biodiesel is a group of monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feedstock, which has been increasingly used as substitute of conventional diesel fuel. It may be directly used in diesel vehicles with little or no modification. These biodiesels were produced by transesterification method using basic homogeneous catalyst.

The knowledge of thermodynamic properties of biodiesel (and their blends) play an important role on the understanding of the nature of intermolecular interactions between the different molecules of biodiesel produced by vegetable oils used on its production, which affect their thermodynamic properties. We believe that there is still a lack of systematic studies on data of thermodynamics property of biodiesel blends and biodiesel/diesel over the whole composition range at different operational conditions of pressure and temperature

In the present paper, we present values of viscosity and density of binary mixtures of soybean + canola, + coconut, + corn biodiesel oils over the whole composition range at temperatures from 273.15 to 373.15 K and at atmospheric pressure. Densities and viscosities data were correlated with R-square adjustment and Andrade equation, respectively, with good agreement. The deviations viscosities have been calculated from the experimental data. The deviations have been correlated using the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation.