Kinetic study and thermoxidative degradation of palm oil and biodiesel

• Synthesis and characterization of palm oil and biodiesel.
• Thermal decomposition study of biodiesel by kinetic methods.
• Application of the Ozawa–Flynn–Wall and Vyazovkin kinetic models.
• Thermoxidative degradation of palm biodiesel in aging processes.

This work investigated the synthesis of biodiesel from palm oil, its thermal stability using the Ozawa–Flynn–Wall and Vyazovkin kinetic models and its thermoxidation using thermogravimetry. The obtained biodiesel was in accordance with the specifications of Resolution No. 7/2008 of the ANP. The 97.4% wt conversion of palm oil to methyl esters confirmed the efficiency of the conversion of fatty acids into esters. The thermal analysis was performed on a thermobalance using heating rates of 5, 10 and 20 °C min−1. The oil exhibited two mass losses, and the biodiesel exhibited only one mass loss. The average values of the obtained apparent activation energies were 184.6 and 191.3 kJ mol−1 for palm oil and 64.1 and 65.3 kJ mol−1 for biodiesel. Additionally, the results indicate that thermal analysis can be used as a tool for monitoring the thermoxidation of biodiesel as a function of time.