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Biomass Valorization to Bioenergy pp 197–219Cite as

Analytical Methods in Biodiesel Production

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Part of the book series: Energy, Environment, and Sustainability ((ENENSU))

Abstract

Biodiesel is a clean burning fuel that can be obtainable from renewable sources and utilized in diesel vehicles. The physical characteristics of biodiesel are indistinguishable from petroleum diesel, therefore, it is currently considered as a best alternative fuel. However, the quality of the biodiesel is very important in order to commercialize and get acceptance for marketing. There is a necessity to undertake a quality analysis of biodiesel to assess the chemical properties. Several existing analytical methods that are to evaluate the characteristics of biodiesel is mainly categorized into chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. Appropriate analytical techniques can be adopted to measure the impurities preciously even at lower concentrations. Hence, this chapter describes the developments in biodiesel analysis including chromatography methods such as gas chromatography (GC), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), liquid chromatography (LC), size exclusion chromatography (SEC), supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC), thin layer chromatography (TLC) and spectroscopic methods such as infra-red (IR) spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS), ultra-violet (UV) spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (P–NMR). Other methods namely viscometry, refractive index, titration for determining free fatty acids, wet chemical methods, enzymatic methods, and methods used to test for oxidation stability and new low-cost and greener alternatives in the analytical field are also discussed. Further, this chapter contemplates the assessment of various available methods, accounting their merits and demerits, and provides some improvements and selection of suitable analytical methods for biodiesel production.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Andhra Pradesh, Tadepalligudem, Andhra Pradesh, 534101, India

    R. Vinoth Kumar

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Centre for Research, Bioprocess and Downstream Processing Laboratory, Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology, Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, 626001, India

    I. Ganesh Moorthy

  3. Center for the Environment, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    Lalit Goswami, G. Pugazhenthi & Kannan Pakshirajan

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    G. Pugazhenthi

  5. Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, Assam, 781039, India

    Kannan Pakshirajan

  6. Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering–Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE–LCM), Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    R. Vinoth Kumar, Adrián M. T. Silva & Sergio Morales-Torres

  7. Carbon Materials Research Group, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de Fuentenueva, s/n., Granada, ES18071, Spain

    Sergio Morales-Torres

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  1. R. Vinoth Kumar
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  2. I. Ganesh Moorthy
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  3. Lalit Goswami
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  4. G. Pugazhenthi
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  5. Kannan Pakshirajan
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  6. Adrián M. T. Silva
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  7. Sergio Morales-Torres
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Correspondence to R. Vinoth Kumar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Arunai Engineering College, Tiruvannamalai, India

    R. Praveen Kumar

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Vel Tech High Tech Dr.Rangarajan Dr.Sakunthala Engineering College, Chennai, India

    B. Bharathiraja

  3. Department of Energy, Tezpur University, Tezpur, India

    Rupam Kataki

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Center for Energy Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India

    V. S. Moholkar

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Vinoth Kumar, R. et al. (2020). Analytical Methods in Biodiesel Production. In: Praveen Kumar, R., Bharathiraja, B., Kataki, R., Moholkar, V. (eds) Biomass Valorization to Bioenergy. Energy, Environment, and Sustainability. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0410-5_13

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