PRODUCTION OF FATTY ACID METHYL ESTERS FROM AN OLIVE OIL INDUSTRY WASTE

M S Alvarez Serafini,G M Tonetto

doi:10.1590/0104-6632.20190361s20170535

Abstract

ABSTRACT This work studies the synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) using crude olive pomace oil as raw material and zinc stearate as catalyst. Pomace oil is a non-edible by-product of olive oil production. The oil was characterized. In order to reduce the plant pigment content in the oil, the liquid was contacted with a modified clay. An experimental design was applied to determine the optimum operating conditions to achieve the minimum pigment concentration and the maximum amount of recovered oil. Response surface methodology was used to study the relationship between process variables and the selected response variables. A mixed-level factorial design was used, and the studied responses were triglyceride and free fatty acid (FFA) conversion and FAME yield at 30 min of reaction time. Under optimum conditions (temperature (T): 140oC, catalyst loading (C): 3 wt%, initial molar ratio of the reactants (MR): 30), 98% and 67% of triglyceride and FFA conversions were achieved, with 84% of FAME yield. This study shows that pomace oil can be used as a raw material for biodiesel production. At short reaction times and under moderate operating conditions, it was possible to convert triglycerides and fatty acids selectively toward FAME.

Highlights

Biodiesel is a sustainable alternative to petrodiesel obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats
Biodiesel consists of a mixture of mono-alkyl esters obtained from the transesterification of triglycerides or the esterification of free fatty acids with short chain alcohols
A cost analysis of biodiesel production using conventional alkali-catalyzed transesterification was carried out by Apostolakou et al (2009). They determined that for small plants, the feedstock cost accounts for 75% of the total production costs, but it can increase to 90% for large plants. This is in agreement with the results obtained by Haas et al (2010), who concluded that the 88% of the production cost can be attributed to the raw material

Summary

Introduction

Biodiesel is a sustainable alternative to petrodiesel obtained from vegetable oils or animal fats. This work presents the characterization of pomace oil and evaluates its potential to be used as raw material for the production of methyl esters of fatty acids (FAME) using zinc stearate as an ecofriendly catalyst under moderate reaction conditions.

Results

Conclusion