Transesterifcation of Palm Olein Oil Using Na<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> as Heterogeneous Catalyst

Abstract

Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production from transesterification reaction of palm olein oil with methanol in the presence of Na3PO4 as heterogeneous catalyst was investigated. The effects of molar ratio of methanol to oil, amount of catalyst and reaction temperature on the yield of FAME were studied. The results showed that sodium phosphate can be used effectively as heterogeneous catalyst in transesterification reaction. The rate of reaction and yield of FAME depend on molar ratio of methanol to oil, amount of catalyst used and operating temperature. Molar ratio of methanol to oil of higher than 18:1 gives fastest rate of reaction and highest FAME content. Higher operating temperatures tend to accelerate the rate of reaction but reduces glycerol by-product quality. When large excess of methanol is used, the experimental results agrees with irreversible 1st order kinetic model and the activation energy is found to be 43.6 kJ/mol.