Process for the production of ethyl esters

Abstract

For the production of ethyl esters of fatty acids from fatty acid glycerides such as vegetable or animal oil or fat or other mixtures of glycerides, the process comprises the following stages: (a) transesterifying fatty acid glycerides with hydrated ethyl alcohol using an alkaline catalyst to form a medium comprising ethyl esters and excess ethyl alcohol; (b) adding a glycerine phase to said medium, and evaporating the excess ethyl alcohol to produce two immiscible phases, an ester phase and a glycerine phase A, and recycling said excess ethyl alcohol to stage (a); (c) separating said glycerine phase A and said ester phase to obtain the desired ethyl esters; (d) neutralizing said glycerine phase A with acid, and separating resultant 'fatty acids+esters' phase and a glycerine phase B, and drying the latter phase; (e) subjecting the 'fatty acids+esters' phase to glycerolysis with at least a fraction of the dried glycerine phase B in the presence of an alkaline catalyst to form a mixture of glycerides and esters, and passing said mixture into transesterification stage (a).