Open AccessEmpirical modeling the ultrasound-assisted base-catalyzed sunflower oil methanolysis kinetics
Author(s) -
Jelena M. Avramović,
Olivera S. Stamenković,
Zoran B. Todorović,
Miodrag L. Lazić,
Vlada B. Veljković
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
chemical industry and chemical engineering quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.189
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 2217-7434
pISSN - 1451-9372
DOI - 10.2298/ciceq110705053a
Subject(s) - saponification , kinetics , sunflower oil , chemistry , mass transfer , catalysis , kinetic energy , homogeneous , organic chemistry , reaction rate , chemical engineering , chromatography , thermodynamics , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
The ultrasound-assisted sunflower oil methanolysis catalyzed by KOH was studied to define a simple empirical kinetic model useful for reactor design without complex computation. It was assumed that the neutralization of free fatty acids and the saponification reaction were negligible. The methanolysis process rate was observed to be controlled by the mass transfer limitation in the initial heterogeneous regime and by the chemical reaction in the later pseudo-homogeneous regime. The model involving the irreversible second-order kinetics was established and used for simulation of the triacylglycerol conversion and the fatty acid methyl esters formation in the latter regime. A good agreement between the proposed model and the experimental data in the chemically controlled regime was found