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Title: Fatty esters from vegetable oils for use as a diesel fuel

Conference · · ASAE Publ.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6108170

Transesterification of sunflower and soybean oils to fatty esters has been carried out to study reaction variables such as: (1) molar ratio of alcohol to vegetable oil, (2) alcohol type (methanol, ethanol, and 1-butanol), (3) catalyst type (alkaline and acidic), and (4) reaction temperature (60/sup 0/, 45/sup 0/, and 32/sup 0/C). These studies showed that ester formation was 90 to 98% complete at the respective molar ratios of methanol/sunflower oil of 4:1 and 6:1. All three alcohols produced high yields of esters. Alkaline catalysts were much more effective than acid catalysts. At both 45/sup 0/ and 60/sup 0/, 97% of methyl esters were produced in 1 hr. 5 figures.

Research Organization:
Dept. of Agriculture, Peoria, IL
OSTI ID:
6108170
Report Number(s):
CONF-820860-
Journal Information:
ASAE Publ.; (United States), Conference: International conference on plant and vegetable oils as fuels, Fargo, ND, USA, 2 Aug 1982
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English