Kinetic modeling of bio-based heterogeneously catalyzed lard oil methanolysis in methyl ester production

The kinetic modeling of bio-based heterogeneously catalyzed lard oil methanolysis in lard oil methyl ester (LOME) synthesis was investigated. To describe the reaction, the reverse basic reaction mechanism of transesterification was employed. The transesterification reaction was performed within a time range of 0–3.5 h at varying temperatures of 50 °C, 55 °C and 60 °C and optimum reaction conditions of methanol to oil molar ratio 10.5:1, 2.5 wt% catalyst quantities. The variations in concentration of the reactants and LOME against time and temperature reveal substantial changes from 0 to 1.5 h beyond which the reactant consumption and product formation remained constant across the defined temperature readings. The reaction was observed to be favored at high temperature. The rate equation based on the assumption of triglycerol to diglycerol conversion as rate limiting in the reverse basic reaction mechanism was observed to be the best satisfactory representation of the experimental data. The activation energy and frequency factor were determined as 20.54 kJ/mol and 1960 h−1. The extrapolative competency of the obtained model was verified with experimental data which exhibited satisfactory correlation.