Production of methyl esters from palm olein and coconut oil using calcium oxide and magnesium oxide modified with ammonium and potassium compounds

Abstract

Methyl esters production with transesterification reaction of palm olen oil and coconut oil using calcium oxde (CaO), magnesium oxide (MgO), modified CaO and MgO with ammonium carbonate (NH₄)₂CO₃) and potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) as heterogeneous catalysts was investigated in this study. The experiments were conducted in a batch reactor, at a temperature of 60℃, an ambient pressure and methanol to oil molar ratio of 6:1 The amount of catalyst used in each experiment was 5% by weight of oil. Tetrahydrofuran was used as co-solvent. Retenton time of each experiment was 2 hours. The results ndicate that modified CaO and MgO catalyst with ammonium carbonate and potassium carbonate increased yild of methyl esters of both palm olen oil and coconut oil. CaO catalyst modified with ammonium carbonate exhibits the highest yield of methyl esters of both palm olein oil and coconut oil.