Acid-catalyzed alcoholysis of soybean oil

Abstract  In an effort to increase utilization of fats and oils with high concentrations of FFA, acid catalysts were investigated at elevated temperatures to determine their efficacy under various operating conditions. Acid-catalyzed alcoholysis of soybean oil using sulfuric, hydrochloric, formic, acetic, and nitric acids was evaluated at 0.1 and 1 wt% loadings at temperatures of 100 and 120°C in sealed ampules, but only sulfuric acid was effective. Kinetic studies at 100°C, 0.5 wt% sulfuric acid catalyst, and nine times methanol stoichiometry provide >99 wt% conversion of TG in 8 h and less than 0.8 wt% FFA concentrations at less than 4 h. Reaction conditions near 100°C at 0.1 to 0.5 wt% were identified as providing the necessary conversions in a 24-h batch cycle while not darkening the product as is typical with high temperatures and catalyst loadings. The oxygen/air contained in the reaction ampules at the onset of the reaction was not sufficient to color the product, but the product darkened if atmospheric air contacted the reacting mixture. The presence of small amounts of stainless steel significantly decreased conversions.