Comparative Properties of Fossil Diesel, Conventional Biodiesel and Green Diesel Blends

The research paper is a comparative study between the main properties required by EN 590 standard for fossil diesel, green diesel and conventional biodiesel blends. The Green Diesel was obtained by hydrotreating, at 350 ° C and 50 bar of the mixtures between straight run gas oil with 5, 10 and 15% rapeseed oil. The same adding ratios were used to prepare fossil gas oil and FAME blends The results prove that fuel properties heavily depend on the blending scenario considered and the type of biofuel used. Diminishing of the oil reserves associated with the increasing demand of fuel and environmental protection restrictions, led fuels industry to find new energy resources to replace them (1). Fuels of biological origin are the most appropriate alternative in replacing the traditional fossil fuel, transposed into EU policies (2), which constrain member countries to use 6.2% biofuels in 2011 with an increase to 10% in 2020 (3). Bioenergy is a special form of chemical energy, accumulated through photosynthetic processes, which have technological maturity from economical point of view for conversion into fuels. For Otto ignition engines the preferred biofuel is bioethanol and for compression ignition diesel engines the biofuel used is a mixture of fatty acid esters (FAME) known as "biodiesel". Biofuels can be used in the both engines types, either alone or blended with conventional fuels obtained from petroleum. FAME-type biodiesel is produced from vegetable oils or animal fats in the presence of a catalyst, resulting