Transesterification of Castor Oil with Methanol - Kinetic Modelling

In this research work, transesterification of castor oil with methanol and sulphuric acid catalyst has been carried out in a lab reactor of capacity 500 mL at various operating conditions (reaction temperature = 35-65 degrees C, pressure = 1 atm, methanol/oil ratio = 6: 1 and 600 rpm). The effect of reaction temperature is considered, followed by the determination of kinetics of the production of biodiesel. Experimental results have been analysed with respect to three types of reaction kinetics, namely first-order irreversible reaction, second-order irreversible reaction and reversible reaction. For each of the schemes, the activation energy and Arrhenius constants were determined. The experimental data fits very well to second-order reversible reaction kinetics. Properties of fatty acid methyl ester (biodiesel) produced from castor oil have been experimentally determined and compared with standard values as given in EN 14214 norms.