In order to investigate the cause of a slow acid transesterification, effects of physical properties on mass transfer and reaction mechanism were studied in this work. Refined palm oil and methanol were reactants with sulfuric acid as a catalyst. Fatty acid methyl ester product acting as co-solvent was one of the studied parameters affecting physical properties of the solution mixture. Visualizations on a digital microscope were used to observe behavior of glycerol and ester. It was found that increasing the ester decreased viscosity and density, which enhanced solubility of the reactants and, consequently, increased reaction rate. Finally, the visualizations show that the reaction was two-phase liquid–liquid reaction, in which the methanol–sulfuric acid covered the oil rich droplet. Increasing ester improved mass transfer by reducing droplet size.

为了研究酸酯交换缓慢的原因，本文研究了物理性质对传质和反应机理的影响。精炼棕榈油和甲醇是以硫酸为催化剂的反应物。作为共溶剂的脂肪酸甲酯产物是影响溶液混合物物理性质的研究参数之一。数字显微镜上的可视化用于观察甘油和酯的行为。发现增加酯降低了粘度和密度，这提高了反应物的溶解度，因此提高了反应速率。最后，可视化显示该反应是两相液-液反应，其中甲醇-硫酸覆盖了富油液滴。增加酯通过减小液滴尺寸来改善传质。