Study on corrosion behavior of storage tanks filled with biodiesel and the blends

Corrosion is one of rising problem in the use of biodiesel. Improper storage of biodiesel may cause corrosion to occur faster and give a worse damage effect. Biodiesel is commonly stored longer in B100 (neat biodiesel). In this work, the corrosion characteristics of three different material of tanks for B100 and the blends (B20) are examined. Those metallic materials used are Stainless Steel 304 (SS), Carbon Steel (CS), and Galvanic Steel (GS). The fuel has been monitored every 45 days in 135 days. The corrosion occurrence related to some changes in the physical properties of the fuel stored. It is also identified through the change in tanks' thickness, weight, and the morphology of metal tank surfaces. The result shows a great change in biodiesel physical properties occurred in GS tank, where the BXX acid value increased by 25.39% and the water content changed to 43.18%. While, biodiesel which stored in SS tank performed best with minor change in base and wall thickness with the change of under 1% and the weight change was only 0.02%. In a certain of time, the morphological examination shows CS as the recommended material for biodiesel storage due to uniform corrosion performance.