Biodiesel content determination in diesel fuel blends using near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy and support vector machines (SVM)

This work verifies the potential of support vector machine (SVM) algorithm applied to near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy data to develop multivariate calibration models for determination of biodiesel content in diesel fuel blends that are more effective and appropriate for analytical determinations of this type of fuel nowadays, providing the usual extended analytical range with required accuracy. Considering the difficulty to develop suitable models for this type of determination in an extended analytical range and that, in practice, biodiesel/diesel fuel blends are nowadays most often used between 0 and 30% (v/v) of biodiesel content, a calibration model is suggested for the range 0–35% (v/v) of biodiesel in diesel blends. The possibility of using a calibration model for the range 0–100% (v/v) of biodiesel in diesel fuel blends was also investigated and the difficulty in obtaining adequate results for this full analytical range is discussed. The SVM models are compared with those obtained with PLS models. The best result was obtained by the SVM model using the spectral region 4400–4600 cm−1 providing the RMSEP value of 0.11% in 0–35% biodiesel content calibration model. This model provides the determination of biodiesel content in agreement with the accuracy required by ABNT NBR and ASTM reference methods and without interference due to the presence of vegetable oil in the mixture. The best SVM model fit performance for the relationship studied is also verified by providing similar prediction results with the use of 4400–6200 cm−1 spectral range while the PLS results are much worse over this spectral region.