Pilot-scale production of high quality biodiesel from vegetable oils with high free fatty acid content using ion-exchange resin catalysts

A simple production process was developed for obtaining high quality biodiesel from various vegetable oils with high free fatty acid content using ion-exchange resin catalysts. A fully automated pilot-scale apparatus was designed based on the reported results using bench-scale apparatus and constructed. In addition to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE), which has attracted attention as an environmentally preferable biodiesel, was both produced from cheaper non-edible oil with 50 wt% FFA content. Both biodiesel products fully met the international fuel standard specifications without downstream purification processes other than removal of alcohol. The calorific values of FAEE were higher than those of FAME, which promises improved fuel economy and horsepower.