High saturation of palm oil and palm oil products has restricted their use in a number of applications, both in food and non-food uses. In the non-edible areas, the use of methyl esters as alternative fuel for diesel could only be used during cooler seasons if their unfavourable low temperature properties could be improved. Normally, palm oil methyl esters have a pour point of between 12o C and 15o C. Similarly, the use of some oleochemical esters in lubricants has been restricted due to their low temperature properties. These problems are more severe particularly for palm oil and products as compared to other vegetable oil/ products such as soya bean oil, sunflower, rapeseed oil since they are more unsaturated and have much lower cloud points and pour points. In view of these, it is desirable to improve the low temperature properties of palm oil and products so that the applications of palm oil/products could be extended particularly during winter season. In this study, the synthesis of a new palm-based pour point depressant and cloud point reducer for fatty alkyl esters is described.

Main Research: Dr Ooi Tian Lye