The non-edible oils of mahua and jatropha were transesterified using methanol and 1 wt % KOH as the catalyst. The effect of co-solvent and the kinetic study of the transesterification of mahua oil is being reported here for the first time. Kinetics, modeled as a single-step reaction, revealed that the order of the reaction is 2 with respect to the triglyceride concentration and 1 with respect to the methanol concentration in both oils. In the presence of co-solvent, tetrahydrofuran (THF), methanolysis of mahua oil resulted in the increase of the rate constants from 0.08 to 1.17 L2 mol-2 min-1 at 28 °C and from 0.43 to 3.18 L2 mol -2 min-1 at 45 °C. The corresponding values for jatropha oil were found to be 0.50 and 2.76 L2 mol-2 min-1 at 28 °C and 1.26 and 4.56 L2 mol-2 min-1 at 45 °C. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

R. Ravi

Department Of Chemical Engineering

Anju Chadha

Department Of Biotechnology

Gobbaka Ravi Kumar

COSOLVENTS

Jatropha

Jatropha oil

Kinetic study

MAHUA OIL

METHANOL CONCENTRATION

METHANOLYSIS

Non-edible oil

Single-step

Tetrahydrofurans

Transesterification reaction

Kinetic theory

Kinetics

Methanol

Rate constants

Reaction kinetics

Solvents

Organic solvents

IIT Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1959, it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance.

IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for four years in a row by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the MHRD

It currently offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees across 16 disciplines in Engineering, Sciences, Humanities and Management. About 596 faculty belonging to science and engineering departments and centres of the Institute are engaged in teaching, research and industrial consultancy.

IIT Madras

Energy and Fuels

The kinetics of transesterification of Pongamia oil using methanol at 60°C were studied. The forward as well as the reverse rate constants of all three steps involved in the transesterification of Pongamia oil are reported for the first time. Among the forward rate constants, the one governing the conversion of TG to DG was the highest and the one for DG to MG was the lowest. A distinct feature of the present work is the direct estimation of the equilibrium constants of all three steps by measuring the concentrations of TG, DG, and MG at very long reaction times. This reduced the number of parameters to be determined from the kinetic data by one-half, thereby leading to more accurate estimation of the rate constants. The equilibrium constant of the final step involving the conversion of MG to methyl ester and glycerol was at least an order of magnitude greater than that of the first two reaction steps. A detailed comparison was made with kinetic parameters reported in literature. The trend in the relative magnitudes of the rate constants appears to be unique to Pongamia oil. Copyright © 2006 by AOCS Press.

JAOCS, Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Kinetics of base-catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides from Pongamia oil

Biodiesel was prepared from the non-edible oil of Pongamia pinnata by transesterification of the crude oil with methanol in the presence of KOH as catalyst. A maximum conversion of 92% (oil to ester) was achieved using a 1:10 molar ratio of oil to methanol at 60°C. Tetrahydrofuran (THF), when used as a co-solvent increased the conversion to 95%. Solid acid catalysts viz. Hβ-Zeolite, Montmorillonite K-10 and ZnO were also used for this transesterification. Important fuel properties of methyl esters of Pongamia oil (Biodiesel) compare well (Viscosity = 4.8 Cst @ 40°C and Flash point = 150°C) with ASTM and German biodiesel standards. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bioresource Technology

Preparation of biodiesel from crude oil of Pongamia pinnata

The kinetics of the transesterification of vegetable oil is known to follow a three-step reaction mechanism. The third step involves the transesterification of MG. In this study, the transesterification of MG obtained from crude Pongamia oil was achieved with methanol in the presence of KOH as the catalyst. A MG/methanol ratio of 1:10 was used at different temperatures (30, 45, 55, and 60°C). 1H NMR was used to monitor the progress of transesterification. The study revealed that the kinetics of this reaction followed a reversible second-order model, with a good fit obtained for all temperatures except 30°C. This result is explained as arising out of the importance of transport effects at low temperatures. The forward rate constant increased with an increase in temperature, whereas the reverse rate constant showed a decreasing trend, suggesting that the proposed reverse reaction was not an elementary step.

Kinetic study of the base-catalyzed transesterification of monoglycerides from Pongamia oil

Transesterification of vegetable oils: Simulating the replacement of batch reactors with continuous reactors

The transesterification of rapeseed and waste sunflower oils: Mass-transfer and kinetics in a laboratory batch reactor and in an industrial-scale reactor/separator setup

Kinetic studies of base-catalyzed transesterification reactions of non-edible oils to prepare biodiesel: The effect of Co-solvent and temperature

Journal	Energy and Fuels
ISSN	08870624
Open Access	No