Fatty acid composition as a parameter of using vegetable oils for biofuel production

Abstract

The aim of the study was to show the validity of determining the quality of oils intendent for the biofuels production. One of the main discriminant that should be used to assess the suitability of oil raw materials for the fuel purposes is the composition of fatty acids. The research was conducted on 13 different samples of vegetable oils, that were cold-pressed from the seeds of various species, including rape, camelina, flax (light and dark), mustard, milk thistle, hemp, evening primrose oil, amaranth, sunflower, soybean, and cumin. The analysis of the fatty acid composition showed significant differences between the analysed oil samples, both within the species and varieties of oilseeds. The results indicate the need for continuous quality control of oils and fats led to the production of biodiesel in the small households and large commercial enterprises, because as it was indicated by the analysis of fatty acids composition rape seeds of different varieties are characterized by the diverse quality.

Keywords

• vegetable oils
• quality
• fatty acids composition
• biofuels production