Production of methyl esters from palm olein using cosolvents

Abstract

To study the production of methyl esters by transesterification reaction of palm olein oil using sodium methylate as an alkaline catalyst with various cosolvents including diethyl ether, tetrahydrofuran, hexane, cyclohexane, butanol and t-butanol were investigated. The experiments were conducted in a batch reactor system, at temperatures of 35℃ and 65℃, at an ambient pressure and at methanol to oil molar ratio of 6:1. Amount of catalyst used in each experiment was 1% by weight of oil. The results indicate that percentage of methyl esters in the presence of cosolvents was higher than the absence cosolvents. Butanol was the most effective cosolvents giving methyl esters concentration of 98% at a temperature of 65℃.