Investigating the Batch and Continuous Transesterification of Linseed Oil by Using a Alkaline Heterogeneous Catalyst in a Packed Bed Reactor

The continuous and batch trnnsesterification of linseed oil were examined in order to maximize the fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) yield. The continuous process was conducted in a packed bed reactor using calcium oxide as a heterogeneous catalyst In addition, the impact of two variables, the molar ratio of methanol to oil and the flow rate (ml/min), on the FAME yield were studied. Also, the reaction was performed in the Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor (CSTR) by using KOH as a homogeneous catalyst in the batch process. Moreover, the influence of the molar ratio of methanol to oil and the catalyst concentration (wt. %) were investigated on the FAME yield. In the both batch and continuous process, FAME yield was optimized by using the Design Expert (Ver. 7.0.0) software. The optimum conditions for the continuous method were reported as follows: the molar ratio of methanol to oil of 11.75:1, a flow rate of 1.07 ml/min and a temperature of 50 °c. Under the optimum conditions, the FAME yield was achieved to 94.94%. Under the optimum conditions, the FAME yield was reached to 95.0672% in the batch process. Also, the optimum conditions for the batch process were as follows: the molar ratio of methanol to oil of9.12:1, a catalyst concentration of 1.52 wt. %, a temperature of 40 °c, an agitation rate of 650 rpm and a reaction time of 60 minutes.