World Bank assisted National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) - University of Port Harcourt
Abstract
The methyl, ethyl, propyl and butyl esters of the fatty acids of
Thevetia peruviana seed oil were successfully prepared by the
batch-esterification procedures. Various acid catalyst and various
molar ratios of fatty acid to alcohol were investigated. H3PO4 was
found to be ineffective to catalyze the esterification of the free
fatty acid. HCl gas and conc. H2SO4 both proved very effective in
catalyzing the reaction. Concentrated H2SO4 however, proved better of
the two acids. Three molar ratios 1:1, 1:3 and 1:10 were investigated,
1:3 molar ratio of the free fatty acid to the alcohol was found to be
the most efficient. @JASE