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Recently, a new processing technique was developed that converts the carbohydrates found in plant biomass into ethyl levulinate, which has properties making it a possible diesel fuel oxygenate additive. Additionally, the new processing technique applied to oil-containing seeds can create a biodiesel fuel at high yields, while possibly enhancing the cold flow properties that commonly plague biodiesel fuels. The first part of this two-part study focused on ethyl levulinate as a possible diesel fuel oxygenate additive, by investigating the volatility of petroleum diesel/ethyl levulinate mixtures. Volatility was measured with the advanced distillation curve (ADC) method for mixtures containing 1, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20% ethyl levulinate (v/v) and compared with unblended petroleum diesel fuel. In addition, the concentration of ethyl levulinate was tracked during the distillation for each mixture by use of the composition explicit data …