Esterification of hydrolyzed sea mango (Cerbera odollam) oil using various cationic ion exchange resins

This study investigates the esterification of hydrolyzed sea mango (Cerbera odollam) oil using several cationic ion exchange resins. The best resins were selected based on their performance in a preliminary esterification process. The best resins were then subsequently used in the optimization of the process parameters. The esterification parameters studied were reaction temperature (40-160 degrees C), reaction time (0-5 h), molar ratio of oil to methanol (0.5:1 to 1:14), and catalyst loading (1-14 wt%). Among the resins studied, Amberlyst 15 was found to be the most promising catalyst in the esterification of the hydrolyzed sea mango oil. Moderate reaction temperatures, 60-100 degrees C, were found to be adequate in converting the hydrolyzed sea mango oil into esters. Further investigation revealed that the esterification reaction using the cationic ion exchange resins proceeds at a fast rate, whereby fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) yield of over 80% at moderate reaction temperature was achievable in less than 1 h of reaction time. Small amount of catalyst, which is less than 5 wt%, was also found to be sufficient in catalyzing the esterification process to an acceptable yield.