A novel SPES/PES catalytic membrane for production biodiesel: Optimization by central composite design

A sulfonated polyethersulfone (SPES)/polyethersulfone (PES) blend catalytic membrane was prepared and used as a heterogeneous catalyst in the esterification of oleic acid with methanol for producing biodiesel. Response surface methodology (RSM) based on central composite design(CCD) was used to optimize the three important reaction variables methanol/oleic acid mass ratio, catalytic membrane loading and reaction time for the esterification by SPES/PES blend catalytic membrane. The optimum condition for the esterification was as follows: methanol/oleic acid mass ratio 1: 1, catalytic membrane loading 1.66 meq/g, reaction time 6 h. The optimum predicted fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) yield was 97.44% and the actual value was 98.64%. The above results shows that the RSM study based on CCD is adaptable for FAME yield studied for the current esterification system.