title: Kinetics of transesterification of palm oil and dimethyl carbonate for biodiesel production at the catalysis of heterogeneous base catalyst.
abstract: The transesterification of palm oil with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) for preparing biodiesel has been studied in solvent-free system at the catalysis of potassium hydroxide (KOH) as heterogeneous catalyst. Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) were analyzed by GC with internal standard method. The effects of reaction conditions (molar ratio of DMC and palm oil, catalyst amount and time) on FAMEs yield were investigated. The highest FAMEs yield could reach 96.2% at refluxing temperature for 8h with molar ratio of DMC and oil 9:1 and 8.5% KOH (based on oil weight). Kinetics of the KOH-catalyzed transesterification of palm oil and DMC was researched over a temperature range of 65-75 degrees C. A pseudo first-order model was proposed. The activation energy (E(a)) was 79.1 kJ mo1(-1) and the pre-exponential factor (k(o)) was 1.26 x 10(9) min(-1) from Arrhenius equation. Further, a plausible reaction mechanism for the catalytic process with DMC as acyl acceptor was proposed.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Boyang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shuzhen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D002384:Catalysis; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D004951:Esterification; D004952:Esters / Q000032:analysis; D005561:Formates / Q000378:metabolism*; D006878:Hydroxides / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D008956:Models, Chemical; D000073878:Palm Oil; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000378:metabolism*; D017680:Potassium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism*; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004952:Esters; D005561:Formates; D006878:Hydroxides; D010938:Plant Oils; D017680:Potassium Compounds; D000073878:Palm Oil; C023025:methyl carbonate; C029943:potassium hydroxide