Non‐catalytic esterification of palm fatty acid distillate with 2‐ethyl hexanol for high purity production of biolubricant ester

Abstract

Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD), a byproduct of crude palm oil (CPO) refining, is an attractive feedstock for biolubricants due to its inedible nature and the fact that its cost is lower than that of palm oil. Ethylhexyl ester is a novel high‐performance biolubricant synthesized via the non‐catalytic esterification of PFAD with 2‐ethylhexanol (2EH), normally the esterification of PFAD with methanol (MeOH). By substituting a longer carbon chain alcohol for MeOH, the cold flow characteristics, flashpoint, and oxidative stability are improved. The optimal esterification parameters were 1:2 (PFAD:2EH) mole ratio, 180 °C, 100 rpm, and 6 h. The kinetic reaction fitted the pseudo‐first order well with an activation energy of 29.89 kJmol−1 and a pre‐exponential factor of 15.05 min−1. The increase in ester purity and conversion from 44 to 95% and 97 to 99.5% were achieved by fractionation via vacuum distillation at 125–200 °C and 47–55 mbar. The physicochemical properties of the ester appear to be suitable as ISO VG 10 lubricant for hydraulic application in terms of kinematic viscosity at 100 °C of 2.9 mm2/s−1, a viscosity index of 243, and a flash point of 180 °C. This study will assist in designing industrial biolubricant reactors. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Elaeis guineensis leaves for potential renewable sub‐bituminous coal: Optimization of biochar yield by response surface methodology and product characterization

“…Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was performed using a Spectrum 100 spectrometer with an average of eight scans and 4 cm −1 resolution. The Spectrum 100 spectrometer was supplied by Perkin Elmer (Waltham, MA, USA) 31 . Surface morphology was determined using a scanning electron microscope Hitachi SU‐1015 model from Hitachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo.…”

“…The Spectrum 100 spectrometer was supplied by Perkin Elmer (Waltham, MA, USA). 31 Surface morphology was determined using a scanning electron microscope Hitachi SU-1015 model from Hitachi, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The imaging was conducted at an accelerating voltage of 15 kV with the primary electron beam current of approximately 120 μA.…”

Efficient and Stable Rice Husk Bioderived Silica Supported Cu2S-FeS for One Pot Esterification and Transesterification of a Malaysian Palm Fatty Acid Distillate

“…; reaction time, 60 min; and stirring rate, within the range of 84.44 ± 0.8%-95.94 ± 2.1%, with the most productive temperature identified as 70 • C. Reducing the temperature to 60 • C reduced the transformation of FFA as it had a negative impact on the equilibrium of the reaction. When the temperature of the reaction was increased, the reactants acquired sufficient kinetic energy to hasten the mass transfer rate between the PFAD-methanol-catalyst phases; this, therefore, optimised the conversion rate [38,39]. The maximum FFA conversion seen at 70 • C with the use of the Cu 2 S (8%) -FeS (10%) /SiO 2 catalyst reflected the requisite for the increased reaction temperature for the acid catalysis of esterification as opposed to that required for base catalysis [40].…”