Experimental Study of Additives on Viscosity biodiesel at Low Temperature

An experimental investigation was performed to find out the viscosity of additive and biodiesel fuel mixture in the temperature range from 283 K to 318 K. Solutions to reduce the viscosity of biodiesel is to add the biodiesel with some additive. The viscosity was measured using a Brookfield Rheometer DV-II. The additives were the generic additive (Diethyl Ether/DDE) and the commercial additive Viscoplex 10-330 CFI. Each biodiesel blends had a concentration of the mixture: 0.0; 0.25; 0.5; 0.75; 1.0; and 1.25% vol. Temperature of biodiesel was controlled from 40 degrees C to 0 degrees C. The viscosity of biodiesel and additive mixture at a constant temperature can be approximated by a polynomial equation and at a constant concentration by exponential equation. The optimum mixture is at 0.75% for diethyl ether and 0.5% for viscoplex.