The effect of natural and synthetic antioxidants on the oxidative stability of biodiesel

A significant problem associated with the commercial acceptance of biodiesel is poor oxidative stability. This study investigates the effectiveness of various natural and synthetic antioxidants [alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butyl-4-methylphenol (BHT), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), 2, 5-di-tert-butyl-hydroquinone (DTBHQ), ionol BF200 (IB), propylgallate (PG), and pyrogallol (PY)] to improve the oxidative stability of soybean oil (SBO-), cottonseed oil (CSO-), poultry fat (PF-), and yellow grease (YG-) based biodiesel at the varying concentrations between 250 and 1,000 ppm. Results indicate that different types of biodiesel have different natural levels of oxidative stability, indicating that natural antioxidants play a significant role in determining oxidative stability. Moreover, PG, PY, TBHQ, BHA, BHT, DTBHQ, and IB can enhance the oxidative stability for these different types of biodiesel. Antioxidant activity increased with increasing concentration. The induction period of SBO-, CSO-, YG-, and distilled SBO-based biodiesel could be improved significantly with PY, PG and TBHQ, while PY, BHA, and BHT show the best results for PF-based biodiesel. This indicates that the effect of each antioxidant on biodiesel differs depending on different feedstock. Moreover, the effect of antioxidants on B20 and B100 was similar; suggesting that improving the oxidative stability of biodiesel can effectively increase that of biodiesel blends. The oxidative stability of untreated SBO-based biodiesel decreased with the increasing indoor and outdoor storage time, while the induction period values with adding TBHQ to SBO-based biodiesel remained constant for up to 9 months.