Episode 46 : PRODUCTION OF OLEOCHEMICAL METHYL ESTER FROM RBD PALM KERNEL OIL Oleo chemicals The term ― oleo chemicals refers to any chemical compounds derived from natural oils almost 95% of natural oils and fats are used in food application small percentage is applied in non-food purposes such as soap manufacturing The advantages of using oleo chemicals over petrochemicals are: Oleo chemicals are derived from renewable resources . Oleo chemical production requires less energy and causes less pollution . Oleo chemicals are fully non-toxic . SAJJAD KHUDHUR ABBAS Ceo , Founder & Head of SHacademy Chemical Engineering , Al-Muthanna University, Iraq Oil & Gas Safety and Health Professional – OSHACADEMY Trainer of Trainers (TOT) - Canadian Center of Human Development

1. SAJJAD KHUDHUR ABBAS
Ceo , Founder & Head of SHacademy
Chemical Engineering , Al-Muthanna University, Iraq
Oil & Gas Safety and Health Professional – OSHACADEMY
Trainer of Trainers (TOT) - Canadian Center of Human
Development
Episode 46 : PRODUCTION OF
OLEOCHEMICAL METHYL ESTER FROM
RBD PALM KERNEL OIL

2. Oleo chemicals
• The term ― oleo chemicals refers to any chemical
compounds derived from natural oils
• almost 95% of natural oils and fats are used in food
application
• small percentage is applied in non-food purposes such
as soap manufacturing

3. The advantages of using oleo chemicals
over petrochemicals are:
1. Oleo chemicals are derived from renewable resources .
2. Oleo chemical production requires less energy and
causes less pollution .
3. Oleo chemicals are fully non-toxic .

4. What is palm oil?
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil
derived from pulping the fruit of
oil palms originally native to
Africa. Palm oil is commonly
used as a cooking oil in Africa,
Southeast Asia and parts of
Brazil and its consumption is on
the rise worldwide. Palm oil is
semi-solid at room temperatures
.

5. Palm & Palm kernel oil

6. Productions
from Palm
oil

7. Methyl Ester
Methyl ester, often called fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) are a type
of fatty acid ester that are derived from the transesterification .
(Lotero et al., 2005)
homogeneous base catalysts such as sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or
another strong base such as potassium hydroxide (KOH) . These
inexpensive catalysts shorten the reaction time and they are easy to
handle in terms of transportation and storage

8. Storage
Store in closed containers between 13°C and 49°C, in well
ventilated areas protected from sunlight. Do not store close to
flames or sparks. This material is NOT dangerous for air,
ground or marine transport .(MSDS)
Packaging : PE , DR

9. Feedstocks
These feedstocks include :
• vegetable oils
• soybean oil
• palm oil
• sunflower oil
• corn oil
1. Waste Cooking Oils
This type of feed stocks is of low cost, making them attractive for
FAME production . Using waste cooking oil, especially those that
cannot be treated, will reduce the environment pollution. Waste
cooking oil conversion into FAME through the transesterification
process

10. 2. Animal Fats
Animal fats are received from chicken, and fish. Tallow and
animal meats which are not allowed to be used as food can
be used as methyl ester production feedstock.
Advantages of Methyl Esters from RBD
Palm kernel Oil
• Lower Energy Consumption
• Less Expensive Equipment
• Easier to Distill-Fractionate
• Easier to Transport

11. APPLICATIONS OF PRODUCTS
1. FAME as Biodiesel
The flow and combustion properties of biodiesel are almost
similar to petroleum-based diesel. As a point of comparison,
pure biodiesel (B100) releases about 90% of the energy that
normal diesel does. Hence, it is expected that the engine
performance is nearly the same
These characteristics of biodiesel reduce the noxious
emissions in the exhaust gas compared to petro-diesel.

12. Values for the American Society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) Standards of Maximum Allowed Quantities in Diesel
and Biodiesel

13. 2. FAME as Raw Materials for Other Products
As intermediate to produce a number of oleo chemical
derivatives such as fatty alcohols, sucrose esters,
alkanolamides, soaps, alpha-sulfonated methyl esters, and
other fatty esters as shown below .

14. 3. Methyl Octanoate/Decanoate (Light Cut: C8-10)
Crude methyl esters can be fractionated to separate the C8-C10 fraction, known
as plasticizer range. The plasticizer range methyl ester is a liquid with good
dissolving power. It can be used in a limited way as a solvent for printing inks
4. Methyl Laurate/Myristate (Middle Cut: C12-14)
Middle cut methyl esters are most preferred for detergent use . The C12-C14
methyl esters find special application as lubricant additives
5. Methyl Palmitate/Oleate (Heavy Cut: C16-18)
Most heavy-cut (C16-18) methyl ester is consumed as either biodiesel or in
lubricant . It is also used as a solvent, as a plasticizer, solvent for solid active
ingredients in products as diverse as body lotions, facial self-tanning creams,
fade creams, hair conditioners and styling creams

15. Glycerin
Glycerin, also called glycerol, is a common by-product in
the methyl esters manufacturing process . Glycerin is :
• a nontoxic
• edible
• biodegradable compound
It is widely used in the manufacture of drugs, plasticizers
for medicine capsules , Besides, glycerin is an excellent
solvent of iodine, bromine, phenol, tannins, alkaloids

16. MARKET SURVEY
the global demand for the oleo chemicals will exceed the global production
capacity.
Global Supply & Demand for Oleo chemicals
it is expected to grow at 6% per year over the next five years . The Asia-Pacific led by
Malaysia, China, and Indonesia, accounts for 68% or around two-thirds of the global oleo
chemicals market and this is expected to grow at 8% per year over the next five years

17. Geographic breakdown of global oleo chemicals market and projected growth 2013-2018

18. Major ASEAN oleo chemical producers

19. methyl ester has started to gain world‘s attention and it
has increasingly
Basic Oleo chemicals exported from Malaysia (in tones)

20. List of RBD Palm Kernel Oil Supplier in Malaysia

21. Competitors
Methyl Ester Producers in Malaysia

22. SCREENING OF SYNTHESIS ROUTE
A base catalyst is a chemical with a pH value greater than 7.
• Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
• potassium hydroxide (KOH)
• and sodium methoxide (CH3ONa)
are the most common homogeneous base catalysts employed
during alkaline transesterification . The base catalyzed process is
the most commonly used because of its relative ease. It can be
performed at low temperature and pressure and yields high
conversion (98%) within a short time Homogeneous catalysts have
been used industrially for methyl ester production
1. Alkali/Base-catalyzed Transesterification :

23. 2.Acid-catalyzed Transesterification
Most commonly used acids are strong acids like sulphuric,
sulphonic, phosphoric, and hydrochloric acids Acid-catalyzed
transesterification processes are not as popular as the base-
catalyzed processes, mainly because strong acids are corrosive
and the processes are too slow. Several reactions may be
required in order to achieve high conversion. It has been
stated that acid-catalyzed reaction may be 4000 times slower
than the base catalyst process

24. 3. Non-catalytic Transesterification
To avoid catalyst drawbacks transesterification process was
suggested . As a result of catalyst absence, purification of the
products of the transesterification reaction is much simpler and
environmentally friendly compared to the previously mentioned
processes.
They reported that conventional catalyst required 1 hr to convert
palm oil to FAME,
Compared to catalytic reactions, SCM reactions are fast and can
achieve high conversions in a very short time. However, the reaction
requires higher temperatures, pressures, and alcohol to oil molar
ratio in comparison to catalytic transesterification, which result in
high production cost

25. 4. Enzymatic Transesterification
Has the advantage of having low operating conditions and
high product purity. Enzymatic transesterification can be
carried out at 35 to 45°C . On the other hand, the major
disadvantages of the enzymatic transesterification are its
slower reaction rate and possible enzyme inactivation by
methanol .

26. Screening of Catalyst Types
The transesterification reaction
can be catalyzed by acids, bases
or enzymes. Besides, acid and
base catalysts can be further
categorised into homogeneneous
and heterogeneous forms.
Comparison of various catalysts for
transesterification
(Lam et al., 2010)

27. 1. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
2. Potassium hydroxide (KOH)
3. Sodium methoxide (NaOCH3)
4. Potassium methoxide (KOCH3)
Catalyst Options
At present, NaOH and KOH are the mostly used industrial
catalysts. The reasons that those two compounds are chosen,
lie to the facts that they are widely available and economical
and they cause high conversion to methyl ester in low
temperature and pressure in a short reaction time

28. Comparison of different homogeneous alkali catalysts
NaOCH3 (18 scores) is selected to be the best homogeneous base
catalyst.

29. OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this plant design project are as
follow:
1. To produce 70,000 metric ton per annum of methyl esters
from RBD palm kernel oil.
2. To achieve the production of methyl esters by using
homogeneous base-catalyzed transesterification method
with sodium methoxide (NaOCH3) as catalyst.

30. Block flow diagram

31. Thanks for Watching
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