IMPROVEMENT OF THE COLD FLOW PROPERTY OF BIODIESEL FROM PALM OIL ROSHAIZA BINTI MUHAMAD A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Chemical Engineering

Biodiesel is a low-emissions diesel substitute fuel which is made from renewable sources that consists of the simple alkyl esters of fatty acids. Research and development in the field of biodiesel showed that one way of reducing the biodiesel production costs to compete economically with petroleum diesel fuels is by use the less expensive feedstock containing fatty acids such as inedible oils. This study subjected to minimize the use of biodiesels synthesized from edible oils like palm oils due to raising food and fuel issue, by blending edible palm oil (PO) biodiesel with non-edible rubber seed oil (RSO) biodiesel. Both of the PO and RSO biodiesel were produced by conventional method. Transesterification is a chemical reaction between alcohol and triglyceride in the presence of a catalyst (KOH/ NaOH) at certain temperature to produce methyl ester. The different kinds of biodiesels, palm oils and rubber seed oils, were then blended with the different volume ratios (B100, B80, B60, B40 and B0). The blending biodiesels were characterized for kinematic viscosity, pour point and cloud point. Biodiesel is susceptible to start-up and performance problems, consistent with its chemical composition, when vehicles and fuel systems are subjected to cold temperatures. It was found that blending PO with RSO biodiesels has enhanced the cold flow characteristics of biodiesel by reducing the saturated fatty acids in the biodiesels.