Quantitative and qualitative analysis of biodiesel – an in-depth study

Abstract

This study is primarily focused on the gas chromatography (GC) and GC mass spectra (GC-MS) analysis method of analysing the quantitative and qualitative properties of biodiesel. Neat diesel, raw pungamia and neem oil, methyl esters of pungamia (MEOP), ethyl esters of pungamia (EEOP), ethyl esters of neem (EEON) and methyl esters of neem (MEON) were the test fuels used in the study. GC analysis showed that methyl/ethyl esters contain a higher percentage of saturated fatty acids, with a lower percentage of unsaturated fatty acids, which clearly proved that the prepared esters have a very good fuel property. GC-MS results have also proved that methyl/ethyl esters are of high purity.