Comparative Free Fatty Acid (FFA) Removal in Crude Rubber Seed Oil between Methanol and Ethanol on Acid Esterification Process for Biodiesel Production

Abstract

Rubber seed Oils (RSO) with high content of FFA can be treated by acid esterfication where an alcohol reacts with RSO in the presence of acid catalyst. Methanol and ethanol are the most widely that used in biodiesel process. This study aims to comparative FFA removal degree in crude RSO between methanol and ethanol on acid esterification process. The optimum conditions for acid esterification which use methanol were 0.9 v/v methanol to oil ratio, and 0.5 vol. % H2SO after 4 h. The FFA removal rate for using methanol reached 82%. Under the conditions of 0,9 v/v ethanol to oil ratio, 60oC, and 0.5vol. % H2SO4 after 4 h, the FFA removal rate of esterification reached 66%.