The effect of co-solvent on esterification of oleic acid using amberlyst 15 as solid acid catalyst in biodiesel production

Abstract

The oleic acid solubility in methanol is low due to two phase separation, and this causes a slow reaction time in biodiesel production. Tetrahydrofuran as co-solvent can decrease the interfacial surface tension between methanol and oleic acid. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of co-solvent, methanol to oleic acid molar ratio, catalyst amount, and temperature of the reaction to the free fatty acid conversion. Oleic acid esterification was conducted by mixing oleic acid, methanol, tetrahydrofuran and Amberlyst 15 as a solid acid catalyst in a batch reactor. The Amberlyst 15 used had an exchange capacity of 2.57 meq/g. Significant free fatty acid conversion increments occur on biodiesel production using co-solvent compared without co-solvent. The highest free fatty acid conversion was obtained over methanol to the oleic acid molar ratio of 25:1, catalyst use of 10%, the co-solvent concentration of 8%, and a reaction temperature of 60°C. The highest FFA conversion was found at 28.6 %, and the steady state was reached after 60 minutes. In addition, the use of Amberlyst 15 oleic acid esterification shows an excellent performance as a solid acid catalyst. Catalytic activity was maintained after 4 times repeated use and reduced slightly in the fifth use.