Transesterification Essay

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Abstract Biodiesel production has received considerable attention in last few year as a sustainable, biodegradable and non-polluting fuel. The consumption of biodiesel will promote balance required between agriculture, economic development and environment. Transesterification is the most feasible method for conversion of triglycerides to methyl ester and conversion efficiency is higher compared to all another method. Transesterification is highly suitable for the production of biodiesel with the lowest investment. The effect of catalyst concentration, oil to alcohol ratio, temperature, time, free fatty acids and water content as well as agitation intensity speed plays an important role in the transesterification process. As transesterification …show more content…

vegetable oil or animal fat react with a catalyst or without any catalyst by using primary or secondary monohydric aliphatic alcohols having 1–8 carbon atoms to form 3 mol alkyl ester which is known as biodiesel and 1 mol glycerol. Glycerol is generally considered as a waste product in transesterification. See Figure 1 Figure 1: Transesterification reaction Transesterification reaction is three stepwise reactions with intermediate formation of Diglyceride (DG) and Monoglyceride (MG) resulting in the production of production of 3 mol of Methyl esters and 1 mol of Glycerol. This method is now commercially used in biodiesel production in North America, japan and some western European countries[4]. 4 Factors Affecting on Transesterification Reaction The main factors affecting on transesterification reaction are a molar ratio of alcohol to vegetable oil, catalyst type and amount, reaction time and temperature, and the contents of FFAs and water in oils. 4.1 Molar Ratio of Alcohol to …show more content…

The stoichiometric molar ratio of alcohol to oil for the transesterification is 3:1 and the reaction are reversible, higher molar ratios are used to increase the solubility and to enhance the contact between the alcohol molecule and the triglyceride[30]. With higher molar ratios production is increased but recovery is decreased due to poor separation of glycerol. Lower molar ratios require a longer time to complete the reaction. Thus, at the optimum molar ratio, the process gives higher yield and easier separation of the glycerol and

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