Transesterification reaction kinetics of jatropha oil for biodiesel production
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Date
2011
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Abstract
Biodiesel, defined as the monoalkyl esters of vegetable oils and animal fats, is becoming
prominent among alternatives to conventional petro-diesel due to economic, environmental
and social factors. Transesterification is the most preferred method of biodiesel production.
Knowledge of transesterification reaction kinetic enables prediction of the extent of the
chemical reaction (or the conversion) at any time under particular conditions. It is also
essential in the optimization of operating conditions in industrial applications and in the
design of reactors for biodiesel production. In this study, transesterification of jatropha oil
with methanol was carried out in a well mixed reactor at different agitation speeds (600-900
rpm) and temperatures (35-65 oC) using sodium hydroxide as a catalyst. The methanol to oil
molar ratio of 6:1 was used and catalyst loading was 0.5% weight of oil. Mass transfer
controlled state was assumed to be minimal using the above agitation speeds. A second order
kinetic model was used to determine the reaction rate constants. The goodness of fit
predicting the moles of methyl ester in the reaction products was determined by correlation
coefficient (R2) and least square curve fit. The forward reactions were the most important as
revealed by the rate constants.
Description
Full Text Conference Proceedings (Earth Sciences)
Keywords
Transesterification, Kinetics, Jatropha oil, Rate constants, Biodiesel, Biodiesel production, Transesterification reaction
Citation
Okullo, A., Temu, A. K., & Ntalikwa, J. W. (2011). Transesterification reaction kinetics of jatropha oil for biodiesel production. In Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology (pp. 221-227).