3.2.2. Reaction temperature
The variation in ME yield w.r.t temperature was investigated
as shown in Fig. 2 under the optimum conditions of catalyst
concentration 0.5% (w/w) and molar ratio of 8:1. The ME
yield obtained was minimum at 30 C and maximum at
60 C, this is due to the fact that the conversion of oil into
ME yield is faster at high temperature compared to low temperature.
However, with a further increase in temperature,
the ME yield started decreasing because CH3OH started boiling
(boiling temperature of methanol is 64.7 C). Thus, the
optimum temperature was found to be 60 C.