Volumetric properties of sunflower methyl ester oil at high pressure

Biodiesel is an alternative to diesel oil (DO), because it is a fuel obtained from renewable resources that has lower emissions than DO. Biomass production should promote agricultural activity to obtain fuels for the transport sector. The study of the behavior of biodiesel at varying pressure and temperature is very interesting because diesel engines are mechanical systems that work with fuels submitted to high pressure. The specific volume, isothermal compressibility, and cubic expansion coefficients of refined sunflower methyl ester oil (SMEO) and unrefined sunflower methyl ester oil (URSMEO) were obtained and compared with those of DO from 0.1 to 350 MPa and 288.15 to 328.15 K. This work shows that oil refinement did not significantly modify any of the properties studied of the final biodiesel. Compared with DO, both SMEOs were about 6% denser, whereas isothermal compressibility and cubic expansion coefficients were bigger or smaller for DO depending on pressure and temperature.