Authors : Prakash Binnal, Amruth Anandachar, Basawaraj Mounesh Pattar, Chethan Tumkur Shivanna, Korada Rajashekharaiah Shadakshara Murthy and S. Rajashekhara
Abstract: In the present study, a lab scale microwave reactor was used to conduct the esterification and transesterification of Dairy Scum Oil (DSO). The optimum parameters for acid catalysed esterification were: Microwave power-600 W, molar ratio of methanol to FFA-30:1, Temperature of reaction-60°C, concentration of sulphuric acid-8% by wt. while the optimum parameters for transesterification were: Temperature-60°C, Microwave power-600 W, molar ratio of methanol to DSO-7:1, concentration of KOH-1% (by wt.). Experiments conducted under optimum conditions both in microwave reactor and conventional electrically heated reactor revealed that, a highest conversion of FFA was 93.63% (reaction time-16 min) while a highest yield of FAMEs in transesterification was 93.47 (reaction time-5 min) in microwave reactor. Kinetic studies conducted in microwave reactor showed that, esterification and transesterification followed pseudo first order kinetics.
Prakash Binnal, Amruth Anandachar, Basawaraj Mounesh Pattar, Chethan Tumkur Shivanna, Korada Rajashekharaiah Shadakshara Murthy and S. Rajashekhara, 2020. Microwave Assisted Esterification and Transesterification of Dairy Scum Oil for Biodiesel Production: Kinetics and Optimization Studies. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 15: 3453-3462.