Synthesis of Biodiesel by Interesterification of Triglycerides with Methyl Formate

Abstract

In the conventional synthesis of biodiesel, not only fatty acid esters (biodiesel) are formed, but also the by-product is the glycerol phase, which amounts to about 10 wt.%. Recently, the studies on the interesterification of oil using carboxylate esters have been launched. In this case, no glycerol is formed, and esters of glycerol and short-chain organic acids soluble in biodiesel are produced. The biodiesel yield is increased, and the biodiesel production process is more economically viable. The process of interesterification with methyl formate yields a mixture of biodiesel and triformylglycerol, which is not inferior in quality to biodiesel, but also has better low-temperature properties. The paper analyzes the application of chemical and enzymatic catalysis methods for the interesterification of triglycerides with methyl formate. The influence of catalyst amount, reagent molar ratio, temperature, and process time on the product yield is presented. The quality indicators of the obtained fuel and their compliance with the requirements of the biodiesel fuel standard are discussed.