Kinetic of myristic acid esterification with methanol in the presence of triglycerides over sulfated zirconia

The esterification of myristic acid with methanol in presence of triglycerides using sulfated zirconia prepared by solvent-free method as the heterogeneous catalyst was studied. The effects of reaction temperature (393–443 K), catalyst loading (1–3 %wt) and molar ratio of oil to methanol (1:4–1:20) on the conversion of myristic acid were investigated. The experimental data was interpreted with a second order pseudo-homogeneous kinetic model. The kinetic parameters were obtained. A good agreement between the experimental data and the model was observed. Sulfated zirconia prepared by solvent-free method exhibited high catalytic activity for this reaction. Low activation energy of 22.51 kJ mol−1 was obtained in the range of temperature of 393–443 K.

► Sulfated zirconia uses as catalyst for esterification of myristic acid in rapeseed oil. ► A pseudo-homogeneous model shows good agreement with the experimental data. ► High catalytic activity of this catalyst results in a very low activation energy.