OP-II-3

OP-III-A-6REACTORS FOR THE GREEN TRANSFORMATIONOF VEGETABLE OILS INTO FATTY ACID METHYL ESTERS (FAME)VIA BASED-CATALYSED TRANSESTERIFICATION WITH MINIMUMENERGY INPUTBarr G., Sermon P.A., Worsley M., Cheng Y. and Tuzun U.Chemistry, FHMS and Chemical Engineering, FEPS, U niversity of Surrey, Guildford,Surrey, GU2 7XH, UKThe base-catalysed transesterification of sunflower oil has long been studied as aroute to biofuels. Here the reaction with CH 3 OH (9:1 molar ratio) at 333-298K hasbeen promoted by 1wt% catalyst relative to the sunflower oil: NaOH (with H 3 PO 4neutralisation), CaO and CaO/C. Product analysis was in terms of the intensity ratioof 1 H resonances seen at 3.5-3.6ppm/2.3ppm by NMR in CDCl 3 .Traditionally, NaOH is an effective catalyst (see Figure 1), but requiressubsequent H 3 PO 4 neutralisation.Figure 1. Sunflower oil conversionto FAME on NaOH and CaO catalystsat 333K.It is found (see Figure 1) that, although CaO and CaO/C are moreenvironmentally-friendly catalysts and do not require subsequent neutralisation, theyare less effective than NaOH. However, the activity of the CaO-catalysed reaction isvery effectively enhanced by ultrasonic agitation ))) (see Figure 2a). Ultrasoniceffects are known [A.P.Vyas, J.L.Verma and N.Subrahmanyam Fuel 89,1-9,(2010)],but are energy intensive. Surprisingly, addition of 1% water again was found toaccelerate the reaction (see Figure 2b); surprisingly, this did not appear to raise thelevel of free fatty acids. The reasons are considered.161