Premium
Effect of Different Cosolvents on Transesterification of Waste Cooking Oil in a Microreactor
Author(s) -
Aghel Babak,
Mohadesi Majid,
Sahraei Sasan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201700025
Subject(s) - transesterification , methanol , biodiesel , chemistry , catalysis , microreactor , tetrahydrofuran , hexane , organic chemistry , biodiesel production , fatty acid methyl ester , chemical engineering , solvent , engineering
Biodiesel was prepared from waste cooking oil combined with methanol. The process was performed via transesterification in a microreactor using kettle limescale as a heterogeneous catalyst and various cosolvents under different conditions. n ‐Hexane and tetrahydrofuran were selected as cosolvents to investigate fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). To optimize the reaction conditions, the main parameters affecting FAME% including reaction temperature, catalyst concentration, oil‐to‐methanol volumetric ratio, and cosolvent‐to‐methanol volumetric ratio were studied via response surface methodology. Under optimal reaction conditions and in the presence of the cosolvents n ‐hexane and tetrahydrofuran, high FAME purities were achieved. Considering the experimental results, the limescale catalyst is a unique material, and the cosolvent method can reduce significantly the reaction time and biodiesel production cost.