SIMULTANEOUS METHYL ESTER PRODUCTION AND CAROTENE RECOVERY FROM CRUDE PALM OIL USING MEMBRANE REACTOR

Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) or biodiesel¸ which is considered as an alternative renewable fuel is usually produced via transesterification reaction of triglyceride from vegetable oil. Generally, there are two major challenges in the production of biodiesel i.e., reversible reaction of transesterification and immiscibility between oil and alcohol. Membrane reactor (MR), which combines reaction and separation, is an alternative process to overcome those challenges. The aim of the integrated reaction-separation process is to shift the equilibrium reaction, and to achieve a higher reaction conversion. The methyl ester that is produced may be separated to meet the biodiesel quality standards. FAME purification using membrane can be conducted without water washing (dry process), and this is interesting as the associated wastewater treatment step is eliminated. Another attractive feature of MR in esterification process is carotenoid recovery which is beneficial to improve the efficiency of the process. Several studies have indicated the efficacy of carotenoids recovery from methyl ester mixture. This paper reviews the use of MR for palm oil esterification. Membrane separation performances in methyl ester purification are also discussed. In addition, the potential of carotene recovery during esterification process is highlighted.