Impact of cold flow properties of biodiesel on engine performance

In the view of rapid depletion of fossil fuels and rise in price of crude oil, there is emergent focus and need to search for alternative fuels. As we know that there is huge demand of diesel for transportation sector, captive power generation, agricultural sector and industrial sector, to accommodate those demands biodiesel is being viewed as a substitute for diesel. Biodiesel is an engine fuel that is prepared by chemical reaction of fatty acids and alcohol, which usually means combining vegetable oil with methanol in the presence of a catalyst (usually sodium hydroxide). But before using biodiesel as a substitute for engine fuel, there are two major problems associated, first one is “cold flow property of biodiesel” and second one is termed as “stability of biodiesel”. In this paper our main focus will be on cold flow property of biodiesel and its impact on engine performance. Some of the cold flow properties such as cloud point, pour point and cold filter plugging point are responsible for solidification of fuel causing blockage in fuel lines filters which further leads to fuel starvation in engine operation during starting operation. This paper also provides several remedial measures for improving the cold flow properties of biodiesel.