The transesrerification of vegetable oils such as canola oil, soybean oil and corn oil with the changes of catalyst and molar ratio of methanol to oil was performed at 60℃ and 1000s⁻¹ of shear rate on the rotary viscometer. The viscosity of fatty acid methyl esters was calculated by experimental shear stress. The viscosity of fatty acid methyl ester at different temperature was estimated by Orrick and Erbar’s model. The overall yield was predicted through monitoring the viscosity of fatty acid methyl esters. The overall yield at the 1:6 molar ratio and 0.6wt% NaOH for vegetable oils showed 85 - 95% for 5.1 – 7.1 x10⁻³ Pa s of viscosity in 25 minutes and was predicted well by the relation of viscosity(ηmix) monitored.
Keywords. rotary viscometer; Orrick and Erbar’s model; unsaturated bonds; functional groups; relation of viscosity (ηmix)
How to cite this article
Hyun, Y.J. (2008). 'The Viscosity Method for Monitoring Transesterification of Vegetable Oils for Biodiesel'. SET Proceedings, 7(1), pp. 510-522. https://doi.org/10.65582/set.2008.065
