Catalytic and Non-catalytic Esterification of Soybean Oil Deodorizer Distillate by Ethanol: Kinetic Modelling

Produce ethyl esters using waste sources is of interest because compared with conventional technologies it does has lower raw material cost. In this context, the present work studied the conversion of fatty acids present in distillate from soy bean oil deodorization into ethyl ester through an ethyl esterification reaction with sulphuric acid and free catalyst in a batch reactor. The reaction time was in a range of 15 to 180 minutes, and the alcohol:oil molar ratio was 10, 20, 30 and 50. The reactions were carried out in the temperature range of 100 to 320 °C. The yield was determined by gas chromatography. The results show significant conversion of oil into biodiesel with and without catalyst. In presence of sulfuric acid the maximum conversion in ethyl ester was 99.7% in 180 minutes and catalyst free was 89.0% with 105 minutes at 553.15K. Kinect model shows very good agreement with the experimental measured data, and the maximum absolute computed deviation between the experimental and calculated values was 5.6%.