Biodiesel production from rapeseed deodorizer distillate in a packed column reactor

In this study, a technical method investigating biodiesel production in a column reactor packed with cation exchange resin from rapeseed oil deodorizer distillate (RODD) was addressed. The results showed that D002 cation exchange resin presented more efficiently catalytic activity than 002CR and 732 resins in a packed column reactor. Biodiesel yield achieved over 96% under the optimal conditions: D002 resin catalyst dosage 18 wt.% (based on oil weight), oil to methanol molar ratio 1:9, reaction temperature 60 °C, and reaction time 4 h. When the packed resin catalyst was recovered, biodiesel yield was over 88% after 10 repeated batch cycles (40 h). The comparison of biodiesel production in a packed column reactor and catalyzed by traditional sulfuric acid from RODD was also studied. It was concluded that biodiesel synthesis in a packed column reactor would be a potential way for biodiesel production from RODD.