Fatty acid alkyl esters obtained from babassu oil using C1-C8 alcohols and process integration into a typical biodiesel plant

In this study, fatty acid alkyl esters were obtained using hydrolysis of babassu vegetable oil followed by an esterification reaction with different alcohols (methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, isobutyl, isoamyl and 2-ethylhexyl alcohols). The density at 20 degrees C of the obtained esters varied between 0.860 and 0.872 g/cm(3). The viscosity values increased with increasing carbon chain of the esterifying alcohol (between 2.8 and 5.6 cSt at 40 degrees C). The same behavior was observed for the high heating value results (from 37.8 to 40.5 MJ/kg). An expressive temperature drop (ca. 20 degrees C) was observed for the cold properties (pour point, cloud point and crystallization temperature) when a long-chain alcohol (2-ethylhexanol) was used as esterifying agent when compared to methanol. From these results, this proposed route using babassu oil and alternative alcohols was considered to be applied to an existing biodiesel plant using transesterification with methanol. Finally, a multi-purpose industrial process scheme was proposed to obtain both biodiesel and novel esters from Babassu oil. (C) 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.