Esterification of free fatty acids (FFA) of Green Seed Canola (GSC) oil using H-Y zeolite supported 12-Tungstophosphoric acid (TPA)

• TPA deposits in H-Y zeolite mesopores, while creating it.
• The loss of H-Y zeolite crystalline structure is insignificant.
• The TPA/H-Y catalyst is reusable.

H-Y is one of the most typical and commercially available zeolites. In this research work, the effect of TPA impregnation in H-Y zeolite has been analyzed. The impregnated catalysts have been characterized in details using TGA, BET, ICP-MS, FTIR, XRD, XPS, NH3-TPD and EXAFS. The change in catalyst structural properties and catalytic activity with the TPA impregnation have been correlated with the help of artificial neural network (ANN). The catalytic activity of the prepared catalysts has been tested in esterification of pure oleic acids and free fatty acids (FFA) present in the green seed canola (GSC) oil. A 10.2% actual TPA loading in H-Y zeolite showed optimum catalytic activity in esterification of oleic acid. The reaction conversion of 99.3% (for oleic acid) and 97.2% (for FFA) were achieved, when 13.3 wt% catalyst containing 10.2% TPA and 20:1 methanol to FFA molar ratio were used at 120 °C and reaction time of 7.5 h. The catalyst is proved to be reusable. Kinetics study shows that the activation energy of the esterification reaction is 66.3 kJ/mol.

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