Biodiesel Production Using Supercritical Methanol with Carbon Dioxide and Acetic Acid

Transesterification of oils and lipids in supercritical methanol is commonly carried out in the absence of a catalyst. In this work, supercritical methanol, carbon dioxide, and acetic acid were used to produce biodiesel from soybean oil. Supercritical carbon dioxide was added to reduce the reaction temperature and increase the fats dissolved in the reaction medium. Acetic acid was added to reduce the glycerol byproduct and increase the hydrolysis of fatty acids. The Taguchi method was used to identify optimal conditions in the biodiesel production process. With an optimal reaction temperature of 280°C, a methanol‐to‐oil ratio of 60, and an acetic acid‐to‐oil ratio of 3, a 97.83% yield of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) was observed after 90 min at a reaction pressure of 20 MPa. While the common approach to biodiesel production results in a glycerol byproduct of about 10% of the yield, the practices reported in this research can reduce the glycerol byproduct by 30.2% and thereby meet international standards requiring a FAME content of >96%.