Regarding the reaction between fatty acids and methanol
Thread Content
Does anyone know whether fatty acids and methanol can react in the absence of a catalyst? What is the controlled temperature for the reaction? What should the pressure be controlled at? Thank you
Without a catalyst, the esterification reaction should be quite slow, probably to the point where it can be ignored
It depends on the length of the fatty acid carbon chain; for substances like acetic acid, autocatalysis can occur at normal pressure without the need for a catalyst, but the conversion rate is not very high； For long-chain fatty acids such as oleic acid, due to their relatively weak acidity and low acid strength, autocatalysis is difficult to occur under normal pressure. Of course, if you heat and pressurize to the supercritical temperature of methanol, this reaction should be able to complete instantly.
Hello! May I ask if you are involved in the production management of fatty acids and fatty alcohols, or are you focused on technology research and development? Could I have your contact information?
The esterification of fatty acids with methanol can be carried out using strong acid resin catalysts; the fatty acids are fed into the esterification tower from the top, while gaseous methanol is fed in from the bottom of the tower. Excess methanol and water evaporate from the top of the tower, and the desired fatty acid methyl ester is obtained at the bottom of the tower. The esterification tower is a atmospheric-pressure tower; the temperature at the top of the tower is less than 60°C, and the temperature at the bottom of the tower does not exceed 160°C℃
Hello! An esterification tower is feasible, but the processing capacity is relatively low. What I intend to do is to use heating and pressure to cause a partial reaction between fatty acids and methanol without the use of a catalyst, followed by sending the mixture to the esterification tower where a complete reaction takes place, thereby increasing the processing capacity.
It makes no sense; esterification is an equilibrium reaction, and the purpose of reactive distillation is to remove the water produced by the reaction using methanol in order to disrupt this equilibrium.
The processing capacity of the esterification tower should be sufficient to meet the requirements, allowing for the online replacement of the resin catalyst. Autocatalytic esterification is possible, but it requires high-quality equipment materials, and there are many subsequent problems, making it not worth the effort.
Mm-hmm, it might be due to the amount of catalyst loaded or the deactivation of the catalyst at the bottom layer; this still needs to be verified!