SUPERCRITICAL INTERESTERIFICATION OF CORN OIL USING A CONTINUOUS REACTOR FOR BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

The environmental issues caused by fossil fuels have driven the increase in demand for biofuels’ production, such as biodiesel. This work analyzes an interesterification reaction, which involves the substitution of alcohol with an ester, obtaining a glycerol-free process. Under supercritical conditions, such reaction dispenses the use of catalysts, simplifying the product purification process. In this study, supercritical interesterification using corn oil and methyl acetate was investigated for biodiesel production. The reaction was conducted in a continuous reactor following a Box-Behnken experimental design proposed to evaluate the effects of temperature (325-375 °C), oil-to-acetate molar ratio (1:35-1:45), and residence time (15-45 min) on ester content yield. Pressure was maintained at 200 bar. The highest ester content result was 44.62% obtained at temperature of 350 °C, oil-to-acetate molar ratio of 1:35, and residence time of 45 minutes. Statistical analysis of the results shows the achievement of significant effects of temperature and residence time parameters, with the representative data model being termed non-significant and predictive.