Biodiesel production through transesterification of triolein with various alcohols in an ultrasonic field

The biodiesel production through transesterification of triolein with various alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, hexanol, octanol and decanol was investigated at molar ratio 6:1 (alcohol: triolein) and 25 degrees C in the presence of base catalysts (NaOH and KOH) under ultrasonic irradiation (40 kHz) and mechanical stirring (1800 rot/min) conditions. It was found that the rate of the alkyl ester formation under the ultrasonic irradiation condition was higher than that under the stirring condition. In addition, it was confirmed that the rate depended upon the kind of alcohols; as the number of carbon in alcohol increased, the rate of the ester formation tended to decrease. On the other hand, the secondary alcohols such as 2-propanol, 2-butanol, 2-hexanol, and 2-octanol showed little ester conversion, suggesting that the steric hindrance strongly affected the transesterification of triolein. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.