Influence of the Iodine Number Page 1

Third Liquid Fuel Conference

“Liquid Fuels and Industrial Products from Renewable Resources”
September 15-l 7, 1996
Nashville, Tennessee

INFLUENCE OF THE IODINE NUMBER OF BIODIESEL

TO THE ENGINE PERFORMANCE
Heinrich PRANKL, Manfred WaRGETTER
Federal Institute of Agricultural Engineering
RottenhauserstraOe 1, A-3250 Wieselburg, AUSTRIA

ABSTRACT

To improve the economic conditions of the biofuel production it is of great importance to

have a broader basis of raw material. A barrier to the use of Biodiesel is the limit of the lodine
number. To investigate the influence of the Iodine Number to the engine performance long term
tests were carried out on a l-cylinder engine. 5 test fuels were used with an iodine No. from
100 to 180. The engine ran over 250 hours with each test fuel. The engine oil was pre-mixed
with 10 % of the test fuel. During the run oil samples were taken and the content of fatty acid
methyl ester was analyzed.
A high increase of the oil viscosity could be observed with all test fuels not only
depending on the Iodine No. Because of the high increase the engine oil had to be changed at
the half interval. The content of fatty acid methyl ester decreased from 10 % at start to below 2
% at the end of each run. No significant differences in cleanness and formation of deposits on
cylinder, combustion chamber, valves and injectors could be observed. Increasing deposits
with increasing iodine No. were found at piston rings on the 2nd ring groove.
Because of the test results no new limit of the Iodine number could be found out.
Further research work is necessary to investigate the influence of the engine, of the oil quality
or the metal content and also to improve oil analysis methods.

Keywords: Biodiesel, Methyl Ester, Iodine Number, Engine Performance

INTRODUCTION

The development of rape oil methyl ester (RME) as a fuel for diesel engines is an
essential contribution for improving the situation of surplus-production in agriculture. For the
market introduction it is required to have a standardized quality of the fuel and approvals for
vehicles (could be obtained for tractors [l]).
To improve the economic conditions of the biofuel production it is of great importance to
have a broader basis of raw material. A barrier for the use is the limit of the Iodine number
(max. 115) which is fixed in the pre-standard for vegetable oil methyl ester in Germany (DIN V
51606 - PME) and in the proposal for an European Regulation for Biodiesel as a motor fuel.
This would mean, that e.g. normal sunflower oil with an Iodine number of about 130 could not
be used for the Biodiesel production.
The use of methyl esters in diesel engines might cause engine oil dilution by the fuel
[l]. A high content of unsaturated fatty acids in the esters (which is expressed by a high Iodine
number) increases the danger of polymerization in the engine oil [2]-[4]. In the present work the
influence of the Iodine No. of Biodiesel to the engine performance was investigated.

01 T ,*,:^--IL ..__
influence of the Iodine Number

MATERIALS AND METHOOS

In the project investigations were done on a test bench with fuels of a different fatty acid
distribution. Long term tests were carried out on a l-cylinder-engine of HATZ (German
company). For the evaluation engine oil analyses were done as well as the engine inspection
by the manufacturer.
The test fuels were suitable mixtures of 2 basic substances produced at the BLT: On
the one side methyl ester produced from hiah oleic sunflower oil with an Iodine number of 100.
On the other side linseed oil methyl ester with an Iodine number of 182. In Table 1 the most
important properties and in Figure 1 the fatty acid distribution is shown.

Table 1: Properties of the test fuels

70
r

60

50

40

30

).
20
z
IL

10

0
VKl(IN100) W(IN120) VK3(IN140) VK4(IN160) VK5(IN180)
Test Fuel

Figure 1: Fatty acid distribution of the test fuels

Influence of the Iodine Number Page 3

The test period of the HATZ-engine was over 1 normal drain interval (=250 h) with each
fuel. Based on the results of the “Pilotproject Biodiesel” [i] the engine oil was pre-mixed with 10
%-w. of each test fuel before start. The engine~worked on a lo~ad~cycle;~l~hour atfull load-and 5
hours at 90 % of full load, both at rated speed.
During the run important data were recorded: engine oil-, fuel- and ambient
temperature, load and speed. To avoid the influence of the engine oil temperature to the test
results, a control system was established: The ambient air and with it the engine oil
temperature of the air cooled engine was controlled by a fan.
After each run the engine was serviced: Engine oil and filter, cylinder, piston and fuel
injector were changed and investigated. Oil samples were taken every 24 hours at least. The oil
viscosity was determined immediately. The samples were analyzed by the oil manufacturer
(Castrol). The content of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) was analyzed with a NP-HPLC-GC
method by the Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Vienna [S]. The engine parts were
inspected by the engine manufacturer.

RESULTS

During the tests a high increase of the oil viscosity could be observed. In Figure 2 the
results of the run with fuel VK3 (Iodine No. 140) are shown as an example. In the half of the
test period the viscosity increased higher than the limit of the SAE 40 classification. So it was
decided to change the engine oil and to continue with a new one. The same test run with pure
engine oil showed, that the viscosity also increased to the limit during 125 hours. The 1st
interval is named “a”, the 2nd interval “b”.

-VK3 (IN 140) _

--a-- VK3 (IN 140)~
- SAE40max
._.._.._......_. SAE4Omin

0 25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250

Run tim [h]

Figure 2: Trend of viscosity of the engine oil with VK3 (IN 140)

The results of all tests are shown in Figure 3 Nearly all trends lay in a small field. The
trends of the tests with Iodine No. 160 and Iodine No. 180 are higher, but only in the 1st
interval “a”. Interval “b” (after oil change) shows a similar increase as with the other fuels.

BLT Wieselburg
 Influence of the Iodine Number Page 6

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Long term tests were carried out on a l-cylinder-engine with methyl ester with an iodine
number of 100 to 180. The engine ran over 250 hours with each test fuel. The engine oil was
pre-mixed with 10 % of the test fuel. During the run oil samples were taken and the content of
fatty acid methyl ester was analyzed.
A high increase of the oil viscosity could be observed with all test fuels not only
depending on the Iodine No. Because of the high increase the engine oil had to be changed at
the half interval. A decreasing content of fatty acid methyl ester was measured from 10 % at
start to below 2 % at the end of each run. No significant differences in cleanness and formation
of deposits on cylinder, combustion chamber, valves and injectors could be observed.
Increasing deposits with increasing Iodine No. were found on piston rings.
Based on the test results no new limit of the Iodine number could be found out. Further
research work is necessary to investigate the influence of the engine, of the oil quality or the
metal content and also to improve oil analysis methods.

REFERENCES

[l] WijRGETTER, M., et.al.: Pilotprojekt Biodiesel. Forschungsberichte der Bundesanstalt

fur Landtechnik, Heft 25 und 26. A-3250 Wieselburg (1991).

[2] BLACKBOURN, J.H., et.al.: Performance of Lubricating Oils in Vegetable Oil Ester-
Fuelled Diesel Engines. SAE Technical Papers 831355 (1983).

[3] SIEKMANN, R-W., et.al.: The Influence of Lubricant Contamination by Methylesters of

Plant Oils on Oxidation Stability an Life. Proceedings of the International Conference on
Plant and Vegetable Oils as Fuels. ASAE (1982).

[4] KORUS, R.A., MOUSETIS, T.L.: Polymerization of Safflower and Rapeseed Oils. JAOCS,
vol. 61, no. 3 (1984).

[5] PLANK, CH.: On-line NP-HPLC-GC Based Studies on Lubricating Oils From Vegetable
Oil Methyl Ester-Fuelied Diesel Engines. University of Vienna, Institute of Organic
Chemistry. Vienna (1995).