Abstract
Methyl or ethyl esters were produced from lard and restaurant grease by lipase- or base-catalyzed reactions. Before esterifying, some renewable substrates (lard and restaurant grease) should be manipulated through acetone fractionation or on a chromatography column packed with an adsorbent to obtain maximal reaction rate. Because lipase activity was hindered by excess amounts (more than 1 mol) of methanol, each 1 M methanol was added sequentially after 24 h of reaction. Through a three-step reaction, 74% conversion to tallow-methyl ester was obtained. However, a porous substance, such as silica gel, improved the conversion when more than 1 M methanol was used as reaction substrate. When a 1∶3 (fractionated lard/methanol, mole ratio) substrate was used, the conversion rates (i.e., extent of conversion) were 2.7 (24 h) and 2.8% (48 h). However, with 10% silica gel in the reaction mixture, the conversion rates increased to 25 and 58%, respectively. Regenerated restaurant grease (FFA removed through column chromatography) was further converted to esters by alkali-catalyzed methanolysis. After 24 h of reaction, 96% conversion was obtained, while only 25% conversion was observed from crude grease. Alkyl esters produced in this study could be used for fuels, potentially as biodiesel.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ryan, T.W., L.G. Dodge, and T.J. Callahan, The Effects of Vegetable Oil Properties on Injection and Combustion in Two Different Diesel Engines, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 61:1610–1619 (1984).
Foglia, T.A., L.A. Nelson, R.O. Dunn, and W.N. Marmer, Low-Temperature Properties of Alkyl Esters of Tallow and Grease, —Ibid. 74:951–955 (1997).
Wu, W.H., T.A. Foglia, W.N. Marmer, R.O. Dunn, C.E. Goering, and T.E. Briggs, Low-Temperature Property and Engine Performance Evaluation of Ethyl and Isopropyl Esters of Tallow and Grease, —Ibid. 74:951–955 (1998).
American Biofuels Association Information Resources, Biodiesel: A Technology, Performance, and Regulatory Overview, National Soy Diesel Development Board, Jefferson City, MO, 1994.
Freedman, B., E.H. Pryde, and T.L. Mounts, Variables Affecting the Yields of Fatty Esters from Transesterified Vegetable Oils, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 61:1638–1643 (1984).
Lee, K.-T., and T.A. Foglia, Fractionation of Chicken Fat Triacylglycerols: Synthesis of Structured Lipids with Immobilized Lipases, J. Food Sci. 65:826–831 (2000).
Foglia, T.A., and K.C. Jones, Quantitation of Neutral Lipid Mixtures Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Light-Scattering Detection, J. Liq. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol. 20:1829–1838 (1997).
Official Methods and Recommended Practices of the American Oil Chemists' Society, 5th edn., edited by D. Firestone, Champaign, 1996, Recommended Practice Ca 2e-84.
Mittelbach, M., Lipase-Catalyzed Alcoholysis of Sunflower Oil, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 67:168–170 (1990).
Nelson, L., T.A. Foglia, and W.N. Marmer, Lipase-Catalyzed Production of Biodiesel, —Ibid. 73:1191–1195 (1996).
Shimada, Y., Y. Watanabe, T. Samukawa, A. Sugihara, H. Noda, H. Fukuda, and Y. Tominaga, Conversion of Vegetable Oil to Biodiesel Using Immobilized Candida antarctica Lipase, —Ibid. 76: 789–793 (1999).
Berger, M., K. Laumen, and M.P. Schneider, Lipase-Catalyzed Esterification of Hydrophilic Diols in Organic Solvents, Biotechnol. Lett. 14:553–558 (1992).
Castillo, E., V. Dosstt, A. Marty, J.S. Condoret, and D. Combes, The Role of Silica Gel in Lipase-Catalyzed Esterification Reactions of High-Polar Substrates, J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 74:77–85 (1997).
Mangos, T.J., K.C. Jones, and T.A. Foglia, Lipase-Catalyzed Synthesis of Structured Low-Calorie Triacylglycerols, —Ibid. 76: 1127–1132 (1999).
Boocock, D.G.B., S.K. Konar, V. Mao, C. Lee, and S. Buligan, Fast Formation of High-Purity Methyl Esters from Vegetable Oils, —Ibid. 75:1167–1172 (1998).
Yates, R.A., and J.D. Caldwell, Adsorptive Capacity of Active Filter Aids for Used Cooking Oil —Ibid. 69:894–897 (1992).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, KT., Foglia, T.A. & Chang, KS. Production of alkyl ester as biodiesel from fractionated lard and restaurant grease. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 79, 191–195 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-002-0457-y
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-002-0457-y