EFFECT OF AROMATIC HERBS ON STORAGE STABILITY OF BIODIESEL MADE FROM RAPESEED AND USED FRYING OIL

Biodiesels are becoming important due to its advantages over regular petroleum diesel: reduced emission of unburned hydrocarbons, sulphates, carbon monoxide, particular matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. However, biodiesel especially if produces from highly unsaturated oils oxidizes more rapidly than diesel fuel. This is a critical issue in industry because it affects the quality of the fuel and the materials in contact with it. In this work, the effect of some aromatic herbs from Lamiaceae family: rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.), basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) on the storage stability of refined and waste rapeseed oil based biodiesel was studied. Obtained peroxide values with different herbs and storage condition showed that sage, rosemary and oregano inhibited the formation of oxidation products during storage of rapeseed oil based biodiesel. It could be concluded that selected aromatic plants from Montenegro are promising as natural antioxidants.