Thermochemistry of methyl and ethyl esters from vegetable oils

This paper deals with the gas-phase thermodynamic properties of methyl ester and ethyl ester of vegetable oils (fatty acid methyl esters and fatty acid ethyl esters respectively) present in biodiesel. The standard enthalpies of formation at 298.15 K, heat capacities, and entropies in the temperature range 300-5000 K are determined by means of quantum chemistry calculations along with a protocol developed for these compounds. The resultant data, currently not available in the literature for most of them, are critical to the modeling of combustion chemistry of the subject compounds.