Biodiesel production by esterification of oleic acid with short-chain alcohols under ultrasonic irradiation condition

Production of fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) from oleic acid (FFA) with short-chain alcohols (ethanol, propanol, and butanol) under ultrasonic irradiation was investigated in this work. Batch esterification of oleic acid was carried out to study the effect of: test temperatures of 10-60 degrees C, molar ratios of alcohol to oleic acid of 1:1-10:1, quantity of catalysts of 0.5-10% (wt of sulfuric acid/wt of oleic acid) and irradiation times of 10 h. The optimum condition for the esterification process was molar ratio of alcohol to oleic acid at 3: 1 with 5 wt% of H2SO4 at 60 degrees C with an irradiation time of 2 h. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.