Esterification of free fatty acids in waste cooking oils (WCO): Role of ion-exchange resins

Although WCO plays a crucial role for the economical production of biodiesel, free fatty acid (FFA) level in the nature of WCO cause saponification problems during transesterification. Acidic ion-exchange resins can be used to decrease WCO free fatty acid level. In this study, activities of resins (Amberlyst-15 (A-15), Amberlyst-35 (A-35), Amberlyst-16 (A-16) and Dowex HCR-W2) in direct FFA esterification were examined in the temperature range of 50–60 °C and the effect of catalyst amount (1–2 wt%) on FFA conversion was also analyzed. FFA conversion increased with increasing reaction temperature and catalyst amount. Order of catalytic activities was found as A-15 > A-35 > A-16 > Dowex HCR-W2. This was related to the size of average pore diameters and magnitude of BET surface area.