Joe Street wrote:
Howdy Pardner....
bob allen wrote:
Howdy Joe (I just had to write "Hey Joe" before. its the lead to a
Jimmy hendrix song I enjoy.)
Yeah I get that a lot. When they ask me "where you goin with that gun in
your hand" I say "This is my rifle and this is my gun, This is for
shooting and this is for fun"
Ok thanks for your corrections and information below. As a chemist you
are a boon to this list. Have you given any thought to the other thread
about using some form of energy input to make the esterification
reaction go? Apparently it can be done with a high electric field
strength and passing the oil/alcohol mixture at elevated temperature
(and pressure I am guessing since the vapor pressure of methanol at 85
deg C must be above atmoshpere). I was also wondering about using
intense UV light. Any thoughts?
To drive a chemical reaction, you need two things: Provide activation
energy to move the reaction along and some way to force any equilibrium
in the direction you want it to go (for reversible processes).
Traditional base catalyzed transesterification uses heat to provide the
activation energy and excess methanol to drive the equilibrium further.
Other ways to provide the activation energy may be possible, but I would
question whether one process was any more cost effective or energy
efficient than the traditional methods. To make a long story short, I
haven't given it a lot of thought, but for your average Joe(ok another
feeble pun), stick with what works.
--
Bob Allen
http://ozarker.org/bob
"Science is what we have learned about how to keep
from fooling ourselves" — Richard Feynman
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