Kinetics of the base-catalyzed sunflower oil ethanolysis

Abstract

The kinetics of the sunflower oil ethanolysis process using NaOH as a catalyst was studied at different reaction conditions. The reaction system was considered as a pseudo-homogeneous one with no mass transfer limitations. It was also assumed that the chemical reaction rate controlled the overall process kinetics. A simple kinetic model consisting of the irreversible second-order reaction followed by the reversible second-order reaction close to the completion of the ethanolysis reaction was used for the simulation of the triglyceride conversion and the fatty acid ethyl ester formation. The proposed kinetics model fitted the experimental data well.