by Stephany McClements (Lantha Sensors/Biofuels Digest) … One in particular is that biofuels have a higher affinity towards moisture and they have a higher water capacity. As such, biodiesel can absorb up to 6.5 times more moisture from the air than fossil fuel-based diesel. This water incorporation can happen anywhere along the supply chain from production to storage, and at any time in transit. Such water accumulation provides optimal conditions for microbial growth which quickly corrodes storage tanks. Excess moisture in fuel will also severely damage fuel-injection equipment, which puts vehicle operators at risk and is expensive to repair. Water removal methods are not effective, and water saturated fuel usually must be reprocessed, at manufacturers’ cost. Such issues are not only expensive to resolve, but they can potentially delay supply chains, harm personnel, and ruin corporate reputations much faster than they took to build. The only way to prevent such consequences is by increased moisture analysis testing in biofuels to ensure any problems are caught and solved early on, before they cause real damage. The biofuels industry needs a chemical analysis method that provides accurate, speedy results, and frankly, traditional methods aren’t cutting it anymore.
The Lagging Legacy
Karl Fischer titration is the most common solution for moisture analysis; however, this process is complex, time consuming, and not optimized for user return on investment. With this technique, samples must be sent or outsourced to a central lab, which is both costly and creates hours of employee down time, as they wait for analysis results before taking further action with a batch of biofuel.
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Thermo-gravimetric analysis is another moisture analysis solution; however, during this process volatile compounds can evaporate alongside the moisture which causes unexpected mass loss and provides inaccurate analysis results. Gas chromatography can also be used for moisture analysis, but the carrier gases required in the procedure are costly, have a short shelf life, and can be difficult to obtain.
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This new technology is based on chemical materials called Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) which contain a group of rare earth elements called lanthanides. The combination of these, introduced with completely new data readers, offer outstanding benefits over Karl Fischer Methods while keeping the analytical integrity and accuracy of the tests. The science is complex, but a simple view is that researchers at the University of Texas found that lanthanides’ had unique light-emitting (photoluminescent) properties that could be “tuned” to serve as chemical sensors. By combining two or more metals in a single material, stark color changes are generated when a particular impurity or analyte comes into contact with the lanthanide metal centers. READ MORE
