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Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) are a type of fatty acid ester that are derived by transesterification of fats with methanol. The molecules in biodiesel are primarily FAME, usually obtained from vegetable oils by transesterification. They are used to produce detergents and biodiesel. [1]
Transesterification is the process of exchanging the organic functional group R″ of an ester with the organic group R' of an alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. [1] Strong acids catalyze the reaction by donating a proton to the carbonyl group, thus making it a more potent electrophile.
The most common form uses methanol (converted to sodium methoxide) to produce methyl esters (commonly referred to as Fatty Acid Methyl Ester – FAME) as it is the cheapest alcohol available, though ethanol can be used to produce an ethyl ester (commonly referred to as Fatty Acid Ethyl Ester – FAEE) biodiesel and higher alcohols such as ...
Esters can be converted to other esters in a process known as transesterification. Transesterification can be either acid- or base-catalyzed, and involves the reaction of an ester with an alcohol. Unfortunately, because the leaving group is also an alcohol, the forward and reverse reactions will often occur at similar rates.
The process can tolerate water in the feedstock, free fatty acids are converted to methyl esters instead of soap, so a wide variety of feedstocks can be used. Also the catalyst removal step is eliminated. [9] High temperatures and pressures are required, but energy costs of production are similar or less than catalytic production routes. [10]
Unreacted MeP and water are recycled via the formaldehyde dehydration process. MMA (>99.9%) is purified by vacuum distillations. The separated streams are returned to the process; there being only a small heavy ester purge stream, which is disposed of in a thermal oxidizer with heat recovered for use in the process.
Fats react with alcohols (R'OH) instead of with water in hydrolysis in a process called transesterification. Glycerol is produced together with the fatty acid esters. Most typically, the reaction entails the use of methanol (MeOH) to give fatty acid methyl esters: RCO 2 CH 2 –CHO 2 CR–CH 2 O 2 CR + 3 MeOH → 3 RCO 2 Me + HOCH 2 –CHOH ...
Biodiesels are typically fatty acid esters made by the transesterification of vegetable fats and oils. In this process the glycerol component is replaced with a different alcohol. The most commonly used alcohol is methanol, producing fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). When ethanol is used fatty acid ethyl