Abstract:
The production of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAMEs) via the transesterification reaction of palm olein and methanol using sodium phosphate (Na3PO4) as a heterogeneous catalyst has been investigated. This work studied Na3PO4 catalyzed transesterification in powdered form and modified surface area by impregnate on gamma-Al2O3. The catalysts were characterized using of BET, XRD, FT-IR, SEM-EDX, and ICP-OES method. The influences of various parameters, such as, the agitation speed, the molar ratio of methanol/oil, the operating temperature, the amount of catalyst, and the presence of water and free fatty acid in raw materials, on the rate of reaction were determined.
The study demonstrated that Na3PO4 can be used effectively as a heterogeneous catalyst in transesterification process. The operating conditions have a strong effect on FAME products. Under the study conditions, with powder form of catalyst, with a methanol/oil molar ratio of 18:1 and a reaction temperature of 210 °C, 98.5 % FAME yield was obtained with only 1 wt.% of Na3PO4.
The modified surface area of sodium phosphate (Na3PO4) as active component is prepared using incipient-wetness impregnation method on gamma-Al2O3 support. The prepared catalyst has tested its catalytic activity in transesterification reaction. The results showed that high FAME content (>96%) within 30 minutes of reaction, with methanol/oil molar ratio of 18:1, the catalyst amount is equivalent to 1.0 wt.% Na3PO4, and the temperature of 210 oC.
The catalyst can be easily separated after the reaction and the prepared catalyst exhibited high stability and recyclability, on our test for 5 recycles, FAME product shows slightly reducing from fresh run but not significantly. When a large excess of methanol was used, the experimental results agreed with the irreversible first order kinetic model, while the activation energy was found to be 43.6 kJ/mol of the system used catalyst in powdered form.
