Study of the biodiesel B100 oxidative stability in mixture with antioxidants

Antioxidants are an alternative to prevent or retard biofuel degradation. This study assessed the oxidative stability of biodiesel B100, made from soybeans, in the presence of three synthetic antioxidants, butylhydroxyanisole (BHA), terbutylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and butylhydroxytoluene (BHT), pure or in mixture, from the simplex-centroid design. Results revealed that when the three oxidants were employed separately, as well as the ternary mixture, they presented induction period over 6 h, at 110 °C, being in accordance with specifications of the norm EN1412. Besides that, depending on the temperature, the BHA, TBHQ and BHT oxidants act in different ways, highlighting that BHA and TBHQ presented higher efficiency in the prevention of the oxidative process of the biofuel B100.

Research highlights
► Oxidation stability is important for the biodiesel.quality control.
► To inhibit the oxidation of biodiesel are used antioxidants.
► Simplex-centroid design is adequate to evaluate the addition of antioxidants.
► The joint optimization indicates the best formulation.