{"id":{"repo_id":"unsw","oai_identifier":"oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/51953"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unsw/oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/51953","repository":{"repo_id":"unsw","name":"University of New South Wales","base_url":"https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/oai/provider"},"display":{"title":"Biodiesel production from coconut oil","abstract":"Biodiesel production processes using coconut oil containing a relatively high content of free fatty acids (4.5% w/v and higher) have been characterized using alkali, acid and enzymatic- based catalysts. The use of ethanol (molar ratio of 3:1 of ethanol:triglycerides) instead of methanol was evaluated in all processes. An alkali-based process resulted in rapid conversion of the triglycerides in the coconut oil to esters with an 80% conversion in 5-10 min. However pre-treatment with 0.7% H2SO4 v/v at 50oC for 3 h was required before alkali addition to avoid saponification of the free fatty acids. By comparison, a longer reaction time (50 h) was required for the acid process which also resulted in a lower conversion (67% at 50oC). The use of an acid overcomes the limitations of the alkali process of saponification when high FFA content oils are used, and gave a higher conversion 70% at 75oC after 300 min. By comparison use of an enzymatic (lipase) catalyst (1% w/v) at 50oC resulted in a conversion of 80% in 50 h. The enzyme based process under similar conditions was significantly improved by the use of high frequency sonication which reduced the reaction time to 3 h and achieved a 92% conversion of triglycerides to esters. To further improve the economics of the enzyme process, an initial study showed that the enzyme catalyst was able to be recycled with only a 20% decrease in conversion. The use of the glycerol by-product from the enzyme process as a carbon source for yeast growth resulted in improved kinetics to that for yeast growth on pure glycerol indicating that no inhibitory by-products were produced during the enzyme process. The overall economics of the process, and its sensitivity to key process variables was further analysed using a computer-based model of biodiesel production. It showed that an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30% for a commercial size plant of 4 million litre per annual.","abstract_html":"Biodiesel production processes using coconut oil containing a relatively high content of free fatty acids (4.5% w/v and higher) have been characterized using alkali, acid and enzymatic- based catalysts. The use of ethanol (molar ratio of 3:1 of ethanol:triglycerides) instead of methanol was evaluated in all processes. An alkali-based process resulted in rapid conversion of the triglycerides in the coconut oil to esters with an 80% conversion in 5-10 min. However pre-treatment with 0.7% H2SO4 v/v at 50oC for 3 h was required before alkali addition to avoid saponification of the free fatty acids. By comparison, a longer reaction time (50 h) was required for the acid process which also resulted in a lower conversion (67% at 50oC). The use of an acid overcomes the limitations of the alkali process of saponification when high FFA content oils are used, and gave a higher conversion 70% at 75oC after 300 min. By comparison use of an enzymatic (lipase) catalyst (1% w/v) at 50oC resulted in a conversion of 80% in 50 h. The enzyme based process under similar conditions was significantly improved by the use of high frequency sonication which reduced the reaction time to 3 h and achieved a 92% conversion of triglycerides to esters. To further improve the economics of the enzyme process, an initial study showed that the enzyme catalyst was able to be recycled with only a 20% decrease in conversion. The use of the glycerol by-product from the enzyme process as a carbon source for yeast growth resulted in improved kinetics to that for yeast growth on pure glycerol indicating that no inhibitory by-products were produced during the enzyme process. The overall economics of the process, and its sensitivity to key process variables was further analysed using a computer-based model of biodiesel production. It showed that an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30% for a commercial size plant of 4 million litre per annual.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tupufia, Samani Carel"],"institution":"UNSW, Sydney","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012","date_published":"2012","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:32:14Z","subjects":["Biodiesel production","coconut oil","ethanol","triglycerides","enzyme","alkali","acid","saponification"],"languages":["EN"],"rights":["open access","CC BY-NC-ND 3.0","free_to_read"],"rights_urls":["https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2","https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/15506"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/15506","href":"https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/15506","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/51953","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tupufia, Samani Carel"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["UNSW, Sydney"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["master thesis","http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_bdcc"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Biodiesel production","coconut oil","ethanol","triglycerides","enzyme","alkali","acid","saponification"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["EN"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["open access","https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2","CC BY-NC-ND 3.0","https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/","free_to_read"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/51953","https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/585e4928-5507-486f-be50-c41a596ac178/download","https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/15506"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Biodiesel production processes using coconut oil containing a relatively high content of free fatty acids (4.5% w/v and higher) have been characterized using alkali, acid and enzymatic- based catalysts. The use of ethanol (molar ratio of 3:1 of ethanol:triglycerides) instead of methanol was evaluated in all processes. An alkali-based process resulted in rapid conversion of the triglycerides in the coconut oil to esters with an 80% conversion in 5-10 min. However pre-treatment with 0.7% H2SO4 v/v at 50oC for 3 h was required before alkali addition to avoid saponification of the free fatty acids. By comparison, a longer reaction time (50 h) was required for the acid process which also resulted in a lower conversion (67% at 50oC). The use of an acid overcomes the limitations of the alkali process of saponification when high FFA content oils are used, and gave a higher conversion 70% at 75oC after 300 min. By comparison use of an enzymatic (lipase) catalyst (1% w/v) at 50oC resulted in a conversion of 80% in 50 h. The enzyme based process under similar conditions was significantly improved by the use of high frequency sonication which reduced the reaction time to 3 h and achieved a 92% conversion of triglycerides to esters. To further improve the economics of the enzyme process, an initial study showed that the enzyme catalyst was able to be recycled with only a 20% decrease in conversion. The use of the glycerol by-product from the enzyme process as a carbon source for yeast growth resulted in improved kinetics to that for yeast growth on pure glycerol indicating that no inhibitory by-products were produced during the enzyme process. The overall economics of the process, and its sensitivity to key process variables was further analysed using a computer-based model of biodiesel production. It showed that an internal rate of return (IRR) of 30% for a commercial size plant of 4 million litre per annual."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Biodiesel production from coconut oil"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Tupufia, Samani Carel"],"dc:date":["2012"],"dc:description":["Biodiesel production processes using coconut oil containing a relatively high content of free fatty acids (4.5% w/v and higher) have been characterized using alkali, acid and enzymatic- based catalysts. The use of ethanol (molar ratio of 3:1 of ethanol:triglycerides) instead of methanol was evaluated in all processes. An alkali-based process resulted in rapid conversion of the triglycerides in the coconut oil to esters with an 80% conversion in 5-10 min. However pre-treatment with 0.7% H2SO4 v/v at 50oC for 3 h was required before alkali addition to avoid saponification of the free fatty acids. By comparison, a longer reaction time (50 h) was required for the acid process which also resulted in a lower conversion (67% at 50oC). The use of an acid overcomes the limitations of the alkali process of saponification when high FFA content oils are used, and gave a higher conversion 70% at 75oC after 300 min. By comparison use of an enzymatic (lipase) catalyst (1% w/v) at 50oC resulted in a conversion of 80% in 50 h. The enzyme based process under similar conditions was significantly improved by the use of high frequency sonication which reduced the reaction time to 3 h and achieved a 92% conversion of triglycerides to esters. To further improve the economics of the enzyme process, an initial study showed that the enzyme catalyst was able to be recycled with only a 20% decrease in conversion. The use of the glycerol by-product from the enzyme process as a carbon source for yeast growth resulted in improved kinetics to that for yeast growth on pure glycerol indicating that no inhibitory by-products were produced during the enzyme process. The overall economics of the process, and its sensitivity to key process variables was further analysed using a computer-based model of biodiesel production. 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