Cold Flow Properties of Fatty Esters

This article is devoted to the study of cold flow properties of neat esters of branched chain alcohols with fatty acids and blends of these esters with fossil diesel fuel. According to determined CFPP values the influence of alcohol branching on the fuel filterability is negligible. Fossil fuel blending with fatty esters of branched alcohols up to 10 vol % does not substantially change the cold flow properties of fossil fuel. The low-temperature properties of fossil diesel and fatty acid methyl/ethyl ester (FAME/FAEE) blends with low ester content (up to 10 vol %), prepared mainly from oils/fats with higher share of saturated fatty acids namely palm oil, tallow and lard, were also measured. The obtained results show that studied esters do not change low-temperature properties of fossil fuel in the blends with the low esters content of 3–5 vol %, although their own CFPP is over the value permissible by the standard EN 14 214. However, current standard EN 590 specifies to meet all parameters of the standard EN 14 214 also for FAME assigned for blended fuels entirely. The proposal to repeal the CFPP limit for esters assigned for blending is fully justified, without any negative effects on fuel quality.