Effect of reaction conditions in the catalytic esterification of palm fatty acid distillate to produce fatty acid methyl ester

• Published in: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
• Main Author: Wan Kamis W.Z.; Azuwar W.N.; Ali Bashah N.A.; Isa N.; Syed-Hassan S.S.A.
• Format: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Published: Institute of Physics Publishing 2019
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85077787132&doi=10.1088%2f1742-6596%2f1349%2f1%2f012116&partnerID=40&md5=0680552fc4535d2324323a39866d9c03

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. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.