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,
Chia-Hung Su
Affiliations
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
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 (R2 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.
