Microwave-Assisted Noncatalytic Esterification of Fatty Acid for Biodiesel Production: A Kinetic Study

Hoang Chinh Nguyen, Fu-Ming Wang, Kim Khue Dinh, Thanh Truc Pham, Horng-Yi Juan, Nguyen Phuong Nguyen, Hwai Chyuan Ong and Chia-Hung Su
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Hoang Chinh Nguyen: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
Fu-Ming Wang: Graduate Institute of Applied Science and Technology, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan
Kim Khue Dinh: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
Thanh Truc Pham: Graduate School of Biochemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan
Horng-Yi Juan: Graduate School of Biochemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan
Nguyen Phuong Nguyen: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 700000, Vietnam
Hwai Chyuan Ong: School of Information, Systems and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Chia-Hung Su: Graduate School of Biochemical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: This study developed a microwave-mediated noncatalytic esterification of oleic acid for producing ethyl biodiesel. The microwave irradiation process outperformed conventional heating methods for the reaction. A highest reaction conversion, 97.62%, was achieved by performing esterification with microwave irradiation at a microwave power of 150 W, 2:1 ethanol:oleic acid molar ratio, reaction time of 6 h, and temperature of 473 K. A second-order reaction model (R 2 of up to 0.997) was established to describe esterification. The reaction rate constants were promoted with increasing microwave power and temperature. A strong linear relation of microwave power to pre-exponential factors was also established, and microwave power greatly influenced the reaction due to nonthermal effects. This study suggested that microwave-assisted noncatalytic esterification is an efficient approach for biodiesel synthesis.

Keywords: esterification; biodiesel; noncatalytic reaction; kinetic; microwave irradiation; bioenergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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