title: Pseudo catalytic transformation of volatile fatty acids into fatty acid methyl esters.
abstract: Instead of anaerobic digestion of biodegradable wastes for producing methane, this work introduced the transformation of acidogenesis products (VFAs) into fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) to validate the feasible production of short-chained fatty alcohols via hydrogenation of FAMEs. In particular, among VFAs, this work mainly described the mechanistic explanations for transforming butyric acid into butyric acid methyl ester as a case study. Unlike the conventional esterification process (conversion efficiency of ∼94%), the newly introduced esterification under the presence of porous materials via the thermo-chemical process reached up to ∼99.5%. Furthermore, the newly introduced esterification via the thermo-chemical pathway in this work showed extremely high tolerance of impurities: the conversion efficiency under the presence of impurities reached up to ∼99±0.3%; thus, the inhibition behaviors attributed from the impurities used for the experimental work were negligible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy at Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy at Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jinwoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ki-Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment and Energy at Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: ekwon74@sejong.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eilhann E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D002087:Butyrates / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D020148:Butyric Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D002384:Catalysis; D004951:Esterification; D004952:Esters / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D002087:Butyrates; D004952:Esters; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile; D005233:Fatty Alcohols; D020148:Butyric Acid; C045572:ethyl butyrate
keywords: Esterification; Fatty alcohol; Porous materials; Thermo-chemical process; Volatile fatty acids (VFAs)