PRODUCTION OF BIODIESEL FROM BY-PRODUCT OF SUNFLOWER OIL REFINING

摘要

Although biodiesel is becoming more and more important as an environmentally friendly andrenewable fuel, the high cost of feedstock for biodiesel production is still the biggest problem to be resolved for moreproliferated use of it. Sunflower soap stock (SS) as a lipid-rich by product produced during vegetable oil refiningprocess, is one of the most promising candidates for biodiesel production because of its easy collection [1]. In thisstudy, obtaining biodiesel from SS as an alternative fuel for diesel engines was studied. Two stage processes wasperformed to obtain biodiesel. In this process, SS was fully saponified by using an excess alkaline catalyst in the firststage. In the second stage, conventional acidulation has been applied to separate high acid oil having over 97% freefatty acid. Then esterification reactions were carried out using H_2SO_4 as a catalyst at 65 °C. Optimum reactionconditions such as catalyst amount, reaction time, and methanol:SS ratio were investigated. Highest methyl ester(96.84%) content of biodiesel was obtained at 65°C, 10 minutes reaction time using methanol:soapstock molar ratioof 30:1, H_2SO_4:soapstock molar ratio of 5:1. Calorific value of biodiesel was determined as 36297 J/g.