Study on the glycerolysis reaction of high free fatty acid oils for use as biodiesel feedstock

Biodiesel is the main alternative to fossil diesel and it may be produced from different feedstocks such as semi-refined vegetable oils, waste frying oils or animal fats. However, these feedstocks usually contain significant amounts of free fatty acids (FFA) that make them inadequate for the direct base catalyzed transesterification reaction (where the FFA content should be lower than 4%). The present work describes a possible method for the pre-treatment of oils with a high content of FFA (20 to 50%) by esterification with glycerol. In order to reduce the FFA content, the reaction between these FFA and an esterification agent is carried out before the transesterification reaction. The reaction kinetics was studied in terms of its main factors such as temperature, % of glycerin excess, % of catalyst used, stirring velocity and type of catalyst used. The results showed that glycerolysis is a promising pre-treatment to acidic oils or fats (> 20%) as they led to the production of an intermediary material with a low content of FFA that can be used directly in the transesterification reaction for the production of biodiesel.

Research highlights
► Method for pre-treatment of oils with high FFA content by glycerol esterification.
► Reaction kinetics study: temperature, glycerin excess, catalysts, stirring velocity.
► Glycerolysis is promising for pre-treatment to acidic oils or fats (> 20%).