Production of sunflower oil methyl esters by optimized alkali-catalyzed methanolysis

Rashid, Umer; Moser, Bryan R.; Ashraf, Samia

Production of sunflower oil methyl esters by optimized alkali-catalyzed methanolysis

2008

Rashid, Umer | Moser, Bryan R. | Ashraf, Samia

We report the optimization of sunflower oil methyl esters (SOME/biodiesel) production via alkaline catalyzed transesterification of crude sunflower oil and subsequent physical and chemical characterization. The optimum conditions elucidated for the methanolysis of sunflower oil were found to be: methanol/sunflower oil molar ratio, 6:1; reaction temperature, 60 °C; and NaOH catalyst concentration, 1.00% (w/w). An optimum SOME yield of 97.1% was achieved. SOME were analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). A number of fuel properties of SOME as measured according to accepted methods were found to satisfy nearly all prescribed ASTM D 6751 specifications, where applicable. The results of the present study indicated that SOME could be a potential alternative to other common biodiesels and petrodiesel.

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