The experimental studies have shown that a pulsed loop reactor can be used to successfully reduce the reaction time for the transesterification of oils and fats. In the present study, the transesterification of palm methyl ester (PME) and trimethylolpropane (TMP) to produce palm oil based TMP ester was conducted using the vacuum operated pulsed loop reactor. The reaction was catalyzed with sodium methoxide solution in methanol. The influences of five operating variables such as vacuum pressure, catalyst loading, molar ratio of high oleic PME to TMP, reaction temperature and oscillatory speed on the yield of TMP esters and unwanted fatty soap formation were examined. The optimum conditions for the reaction were found at 120 °C, 20 mbar, 3.9:1 M ratio of PME:TMP, 1.0 wt% catalyst solution and 180 rpm oscillatory speed. The product containing 95 wt% TMP triester was successfully synthesized in 1 h with 167 mg/g of fatty soap. The physicochemical properties of the TMP esters obtained using pulse reactor were comparable to characteristics of high oleic TMP esters.

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Microwave-assisted synthesis is known to accelerate the transesterification process and address the issues associated with the conventional thermal process, such as the processing time and the energy input requirement. Herein, the effect of microwave irradiation on the transesterification of palm oil methyl ester (PME) with trimethylolpropane (TMP) was evaluated. The reaction system was investigated through five process parameters, which were reaction temperature, catalyst, time, molar ratio of TMP to PME and vacuum pressure. The yield of TMP triester at 66.9 wt.% and undesirable fatty soap at 17.4% were obtained at 130 °C, 10 mbar, sodium methoxide solution at 0.6 wt.%, 10 min reaction time and molar ratio of TMP to PME at 1:4. The transesterification of palm oil-based methyl ester to trimethylolpropane ester was 3.1 folds faster in the presence of microwave irradiation. The total energy requirement was markedly reduced as compared to the conventional heating method. The findings indicate that microwave-assisted transesterification could probably be an answer to the quest for a cheaper biodegradable biolubricant.

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