Biodiesel, typically produced via transesterification of triglycerides, is a blend of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME).   During this reaction glycerol is formed as a by-product, amounting to ~10 wt% of the final reaction mixture, and must be separated before use.   Because there are currently limited uses for glycerol, sustainable biodiesel production must utilize and/or avoid the formation of this otherwise waste product.  An alternative reaction of triglycerides with methyl acetate to form FAME produces triacetin in place of glycerol as the secondary product.  Instead of removing this co-product, triacetin is soluble in FAME and can be left in as a fuel additive.  Studies have suggested that triacetin can improve fuel properties, such as oxidation stability, though further testing is necessary to better understand the effect of triacetin on other FAME properties, particularly in blends.  This work demonstrates the use of heterogenous acid catalysts to effectively produce FAME from model triglyceride feedstocks via the interesterification reaction.  A process simulation is used to determine conditions that would lead to competitive energy usage to conventional biodiesel extraction.  Furthermore, the cold flow properties of fatty acid alkyl ester blends were systematically assessed in binary and ternary systems and results indicate that triacetin serves to decrease FAME cloud point thus enhancing cold weather performance.  These findings present a bottom up understanding of how interesterification can be used for designing better biodiesel systems.

Assessing interesterification for sustainable biodiesel production

254th National Meeting (2017)

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