Production and characterization of biodiesel from tung oil.
The feasibility of biodiesel production from tung oil was investigated. The esterification reaction of the free fatty acids of tung oil was performed using Amberlyst-15. Optimal molar ratio of methanol to oil was determined to be 7.5:1, and Amberlyst-15 was 20.8 wt% of oil by response surface methodology. Under these reaction conditions, the acid value of tung oil was reduced to 0.72 mg KOH/g. In the range of the molar equivalents of methanol to oil under 5, the esterification was strongly affected by the amount of methanol but not the catalyst. When the molar ratio of methanol to oil was 4.1:1 and Amberlyst-15 was 29.8 wt% of the oil, the acid value decreased to 0.85 mg KOH/g. After the transesterification reaction of pretreated tung oil, the purity of tung biodiesel was 90.2 wt%. The high viscosity of crude tung oil decreased to 9.8mm(2)/s at 40 degrees C. Because of the presence of eleostearic acid, which is a main component of tung oil, the oxidation stability as determined by the Rancimat method was very low, 0.5h, but the cold filter plugging point, -11 degrees C, was good. The distillation process did not improve the fatty acid methyl ester content and the viscosity.
Park
Ji-Yeon
JY
Korea Institute of Energy Research, 71-2, Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-343, Republic of Korea.
Kim
Deog-Keun
DK
Wang
Zhong-Ming
ZM
Lu
Pengmei
P
Park
Soon-Chul
SC
Lee
Jin-Suk
JS
D020650:Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004951:Esterification; D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified / Q000737:chemistry*; D005742:Gasoline / Q000032:analysis*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D013343:Styrenes / Q000737:chemistry*
D005230:Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; D005742:Gasoline; D010938:Plant Oils; D013343:Styrenes; C528218:amberlyst-15; C009612:tung oil