Open AccessEffect of reaction conditions in the catalytic esterification of palm fatty acid distillate to produce fatty acid methyl ester
Author(s) -
Wan Zuraida Wan Kamis,
W. N. Azuwar,
Nur Alwani Ali Bashah,
Nor Ashidi Mat Isa,
Syed Shatir A. SyedHassan
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1349/1/012116
Subject(s) - catalysis , methanol , chemistry , biodiesel , fatty acid methyl ester , fatty acid , organic chemistry , biodiesel production , transesterification , distillation , raw material , acid value , heterogeneous catalysis , nuclear chemistry , biochemistry
Biodiesel or fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) obtained via esterification process is an alternative for industrial and transportation fuel. In this study, chromium-titanium mixed oxides catalyst synthesized via sol-gel method was used to catalyse the esterification of palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) to produce FAME. Esterification was conducted in a batch reactor. The effects of reaction temperature, methanol to PFAD molar ratio, reaction time and reusability of catalyst were studied. Reaction conditions yielding the best performance of 89% FAME content were reaction temperature of 160°C, methanol to PFAD molar ratio of 3:1 and reaction time of 3 h. The catalyst can be reused for 3 times with 20% performance reduction between the first run and the third run. The results revealed that the mixed oxides of Cr-Ti is a potential heterogeneous catalyst for use in the esterification of high acid value feedstock of PFAD.