title: Oil palm trunk and sugarcane bagasse derived solid acid catalysts for rapid esterification of fatty acids and moisture-assisted transesterification of oils under pseudo-infinite methanol.
abstract: The use of pseudo-infinite methanol in increasing the rate of esterification and transesterification reactions was studied using oil palm trunk (OPT) and sugarcane bagasse (SCB) derived solid acid catalysts. The catalysts were prepared by incomplete carbonisation at 400°C for 8h, followed by sulfonation at 150°C for 15h and characterised using TGA/DTA, XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDS, EA and titrimetric determinations of acid sites. Under optimal reaction conditions, the process demonstrated rapid esterification of palmitic acid, with FAME yields of 93% and 94% in 45min for OPT and SCB catalysts, respectively. With the process, moisture levels up to 16.7% accelerated the conversion of low FFA oils by sulfonated carbon catalysts, through moisture-induced violent bumping. Moisture assisted transesterification of palm olein containing 1.78% FFA and 8.33% added water gave FAME yield of 90% in 10h, which was two folds over neat oil.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ezebor
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: melati@usm.my.
authors.forename: Melati
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khairuddean
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal, 14300 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ahmad Zuhairi
authors.initials: AZ
authors.lastname: Abdullah
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Peng Lim
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Boey
mesh_terms: D028023:Arecaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry*; D004951:Esterification; D004952:Esters / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D006813:Humidity; D000432:Methanol / Q000378:metabolism; D019308:Palmitic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D059027:Recycling; D031786:Saccharum / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids; D010938:Plant Oils; D019308:Palmitic Acid; D002482:Cellulose; C027433:bagasse; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Control of reaction milieu; Moisture-assisted transesterification; Oil palm trunk; Pseudo-infinite methanol process; Sugarcane bagasse