A solvent-free glycerolysis process has been developed to convert free fatty acids (FFA) into neutral oil using fatty acids distillates from vegetable oil refinery. The process is a catalystfree reaction and able to achieve 98% conversion of FFA into neutral oil. The neutral oil produced can be transesterified into fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The main advantage of adopting glycerolysis technology for FAME production is lower chemical input as the process is catalystfree and glycerine is recycled. Glycerolysis will produce partial glycerides as an intermediate product which could have more applications such as purified monoglycerides and diglycerides fractions.

Researcher: Dr Harrison Lau Lik Nang
Email: harrison@mpob.gov.my