Report on Biodiesel Quality in 2018 published

Association Quality Management Biodiesel (AGQM) releases Quality Report 2018 including all results from the sampling regularly performed at biodiesel producers and warehouse operators.

In 2018, AGQM conducted three regular unannounced sampling campaigns among its members, in which 54 samples were taken. Moreover, 16 samples were taken in additional campaigns where those members participated who have been subject to limit violations in a regular campaign. A total of 26 limit violations were identified for the 1260 analysis values recorded, of which 17 were within the precision of the measurement method. It is noticeable that in the summer months particularly many limit violations occurred. The long-lasting, very high temperatures may have influenced the production and storage conditions. However, the difficult market environment in 2018, with cheap biodiesel imports from Argentina and Indonesia, should also be taken into account, which could have forced producers to produce more and more at the limit of economic efficiency. Despite the extraordinary challenges, the producers have succeeded in ensuring a very high biodiesel quality also in 2018.

The results for the parameters, which are considered by the automotive industry to be particularly critical for exhaust gas aftertreatment, deserve a positive mention. For the alkali metals sodium and potassium, the average value is 0.8 mg/kg, for the alkaline earth metals magnesium and calcium even 0.1 mg/kg (limit Na+K / Ca+Mg max. 5 mg/kg). The average value for the phosphorus content is 0.5 mg/kg (limit max. 4 mg/kg).

The detailed quality report 2018 as well as an information sheet with all the average values for the individual parameters can be found on the homepage of AGQM under ‘quality’.

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