Summary
Solid methyl esters of saturated fatty acids can cause technological problems when modified vegetable oils are used at low temperatures. In this work the effect of adding tailored substances to lower the crystallization temperature (<Emphasis Type=”Italic”>T</Emphasis><Subscript>c</Subscript>) of methyl hexadecanoate (PalMe) was studied. These substances were esters of carboxylic acids with linear or branched alkyl chains of up to 16 carbon atoms with alcohols having cyclic or branched alkyl chains or an alkoxy group. Results of DSC measurements have shown that the crystallization temperature of PalMe could be decreased by 10°C depending on the molecular mass, molecular structure and concentration of the additive. The best results were obtained using hexadecanoic acid derivatives.