Improving vegetable oil properties by transforming fatty acid chain length in jatropha oil and coconut oil blends

Efforts to improve the physical and chemical properties of vegetable oils as diesel fuels such as viscosity and calorific value are indispensable with the depletion of fossil oil reserves. Jatropha oil with long chain fatty acids and high degree of unsaturation is mixed with short chain saturated fatty acid coconut oil in various compositions. The mixture was heated and stirred for 30 min at 90 °C. This mixing leads to a decrease in viscosity which allows for the breaking of the bond. The fatty acid molecule structure undergoes transformation that changes the degree of unsaturation and the average length of the carbon chain. Consequently, the kinematic viscosity and flash point of the mixture decreases while its calorific value increases.