Determination of FAME in Gasoline : A Fuel Quality Analysis

Abstract: Gasoline is produced by distilling petroleum oil. This is done at a refinery, where a lot of other products are produced as well. With increasing interest in bio-fuels the fuel companies started to produce substances such as biodiesel as well as the petroleum-based fuels. These products are then transported to where they are going to be used or sold, there included both gasoline, which is a petroleum-based fuel, and biodiesel (FAME), which in Sweden is based on rapeseed oil. If the vessel for transporting gasoline, or pipeline/connections filling and emptying the tanks, has previously been used for biodiesel, there is a risk of contaminating the gasoline with biodiesel. This contamination can have a lot of different effects such as either clogging filters or injectors in both gasoline- and ethanol-based engines, or even change the properties and therefore quality of the fuel.  To ensure that the results from tests and research involving gasoline can be used and compared with each other, the quality of the fuel must have the same properties throughout all tests. This is controlled by taking samples on a regular basis and analyzing the quality and level of impurities in the fuel used in that specific test. Screening for FAME is therefore necessary which is where this thesis becomes relevant.  This thesis was carried out with the purpose to develop a new or verify an already developed method to quantify FAME in gasoline. To determine the FAME content, a standard gas chromatography method, IP 585, was used. It was changed to fit in this application, since it was originally made to determine FAME content in diesel, not gasoline. It was concluded that it was possible to determine the FAME content in gasoline when IP 585 was used as is. There were some possible alternatives to IP 585 and they will be discussed in the literature study.