Optimization of the reaction parameters for fast pseudo single-phase transesterification of sunflower oil

Transesterification of sunflower oil with methanol was carried out using potassium hydroxide and methoxide as catalysts and MTBE as cosolvent. The aim of this work was to study and optimize the reaction parameters. Chosen parameters were reaction time, catalyst amount and methanol amount (expressed as catalyst-to-oil and methanol-to-oil molar ratios, respectively). The response variables were methyl ester content (ME) and acid value (AV) due to their relationship with the completion and yield reaction, respectively. A factorial plus composite design was developed to carry out the optimization. From this design, several quadratic models have been used to fit the experimental data. All the factors studied had a positive influence on methyl ester content and acid value, except the methanol amount on acid value. For methoxide catalyst, optimum values were 0.235 catalyst to oil molar ratio, 12 methanol to oil molar ratio and 5 min reaching 99 wt.% ME and 0.20 mg KOH/g of AV.