As expected high catalyst amounts result in faster reaction rates. Taking the error bars into account, the conversion of fatty acid after 60 min with a catalyst amount of ωcat = 0.015 gcatalyst goleic acid −1 is comparable to ωcat = 0.045 gcatalyst goleic acid −1 . In comparison, a catalyst amount of ωcat = 0.005 gcatalyst goleic acid −1 leads to a much lower conversion of oleic acid. Due to the limited residence times in a column, the reaction rate for the lowest amount of sulphuric acid is too slow to ensure a high conversion of oleic acid in a reactive distillation process. According to these results a catalyst content of ωcat = 0.015 gcatalyst goleic acid −1 is chosen to investigate the influence of the stoichiometric ratio and later for the determination of the reaction kinetics.