Oxidation stability of biodiesel

Fatty acid methyl esters are produced from a vegetable oil, usually obtained from oil seed, by transesterification with methanol.

Both feedstock and biodiesel have a relatively short storage life as they are slowly oxidized by atmospheric oxygen. The resulting oxidation products can damage vehicle engines. For this reason, the oxidation stability is an important quality criterion for biodiesel and vegetable oils and must therefore be checked regularly during manufacture and storage.