Unique experimental data on the high heat value of biofuels -soy and rapeseed oils and methyl esters of the latter -which are in good agreement with the data of domestic and foreign researchers confirm the results of calculations: high erucic oil and its derivatives have a higher energy potential than low erucic oil. These data allow determining the indicator and effective indexes of operation of diesel (multifuel) engines with a high degree of reliability.With the shortage of liquid energy carriers of petroleum origin and to reduce the environmental hazard of diesel exhaust gases, alternative fuels from renewable feedstock sources -vegetable oils and their derivatives, are beginning to be used.In processing experimental data and calculations of the running cycle of diesel engines, it is important to know the precise value of the low heat value Q l of the fuel. The value of Q l is calculated with the high heat value Q h , which is determined calorimetrically according to GOST 21261"91 in isothermal and adiabatic conditions in a constant volume.The values of Q h and Q l of petroleum fuels and the equations for calculating them are widely known [1], and the experimental values of these quantities were systematized in [2] for biofuels from plant feedstock.Although these values are in satisfactory agreement with the values calculated with Mendeleev's equation, Q h was directly measured with a combustion calorimeter with a V-08MA liquid bomb. S i n c e G O S T 2 1 2 6 1 -9 1 c o v e r s l i q u i d f u e l s a n d h y d r o c a r b o n a n d o x y g e n -c o n t a i n i n g components, the recommended method for determination of Q h can also be considered suitable for oxygen-containing (9-10% O 2 ) vegetable oils and their derivatives.Calorimetric tests of samples of the following fuels [3] were conducted in the Laboratory of Thermal and Thermophysical Measurements at Khar'kov State Scientific-Research Institute of Metrology (KSSRIM): Sample 1 -RME: German rapeseed oil methyl esters, erucic acid C22:1* = 0.6%; density of esters = 877 kg/m 3 at 20°C; Sample 2 -RHRO: refined high erucic rapeseed oil, C22:1 ≈ 30%, density = 916 kg/m 3 at 20°C; *Designation of the erucic acid used in the chemistry of fats: C22 -formula C 22 H 42 O 2 ; the figure 1 after the colon designates the number of double bonds in the molecule. 0009-3092/06/4202-0144

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