PRODUCTION OF FATTY ACID METHYL ESTERS FROM AN OLIVE OIL INDUSTRY WASTE

ABSTRACT This work studies the synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) using crude olive pomace oil as raw material and zinc stearate as catalyst. Pomace oil is a non-edible by-product of olive oil production. The oil was characterized. In order to reduce the plant pigment content in the oil, the liquid was contacted with a modified clay. An experimental design was applied to determine the optimum operating conditions to achieve the minimum pigment concentration and the maximum amount of recovered oil. Response surface methodology was used to study the relationship between process variabl...