Method for the transesterification of hydroxylated oils

1. A process for the transesterification of a hydroxylated oil in which the transesterification is carried out in the presence of methanol or ethanol and a basic catalyst under temperature, pressure and alcohol/oil weight ratio conditions allowing a greater than 95% conversion of the hydroxylated oil to fatty acid esters in only two transesterification steps, said process comprising the steps of:

a) transesterifying in a first transesterification (T 1 ) said hydroxylated oil, resulting in the obtaining of a reaction mixture M 1 ;

b) adding an aqueous solution S 1 so as to obtain a reaction mixture A comprising hydroxylated fatty acid esters and glycerol;

c) separating said reaction mixture A by static settling and/or by centrifugal settling, to obtain a less dense phase A 1 predominantly consisting of fatty esters and a denser phase A 2 predominantly consisting of glycerol, water and fatty acid soaps;

d) performing a second transesterification step T 2 in which methanol or ethanol and said basic catalyst are added to the phase A 1 so as to produce a reaction mixture M 2 .

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a step R of recycling a mixture comprising fatty acid esters, free fatty acids and basic catalyst to the reaction mixture M 2 resulting from the second transesterification step T 2 .

3. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which an aqueous solution S 2 is added to the reaction mixture M 2 or to the reaction mixture resulting from the recycling step R so as to obtain a reaction mixture B.

4. The process as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a step of separating the reaction mixture B by static settling and/or by centrifugal settling, to obtain a less dense phase B 1 predominantly consisting of fatty esters and a denser phase B 2 predominantly consisting of glycerol, water, and, where appropriate, fatty acid soaps.

5. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the steps T 1 , T 2 , R, of separation and of addition of the aqueous solutions S 1 and S 2 are carried out at a pressure of less than 5 bar and at a temperature ranging from 10 to 100° C.

6. The process as claimed in claim 4 , in which the phase B 1 undergoes a partial or total evaporation of the alcohol, and then addition of an aqueous solution and a phase separation, to obtain a less dense phase C 1 consisting of fatty esters and a denser aqueous phase C 2 comprising alcohol, glycerol and soaps.

7. The process as claimed in claim 6 , in which the denser aqueous phase C 2 recovered is used as aqueous solution S 1 or S 2 to obtain the reaction mixture A or the reaction mixture B.

8. The process as claimed in claim 6 , in which the denser phases A 2 , B 2 and, optionally, C 2 are mixed and the mixture undergoes a treatment comprising evaporation, acidification and settling steps resulting in the obtaining of a less dense oily phase D 1 and a denser phase D 2 predominantly consisting of glycerol and water.

9. The process as claimed in claim 8 , in which the oily phase D 1 is reacted with the alcohol and an acid catalyst chosen from the group: hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, methanesulfonic acid and para-toluenesulfonic acid, at a temperature ranging from 40 to 120° C., so as to obtain a mixture M 3 comprising fatty acid esters and free fatty acids.

10. The process as claimed in claim 9 , in which the mixture M 3 is used in the recycling step R.

11. The process as claimed in claim 9 , in which an acidic, basic or neutral aqueous solution, is added to the mixture M 3 , which is then subjected to a separation to obtain a denser aqueous phase E 2 and a less dense phase E 1 containing esters.

12. The process as claimed in claim 11 , in which the phase E 1 is used in the recycling step R.

13. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the basic catalyst is chosen from the group consisting of: aqueous sodium hydroxide, alcoholic sodium hydroxide, solid sodium hydroxide, aqueous potassium hydroxide, alcoholic potassium hydroxide, solid potassium hydroxide, sodium methoxide, potassium methoxide, sodium ethoxide, potassium ethoxide, sodium carbonate, and potassium carbonate.

14. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the aqueous solutions S 1 and S 2 are chosen from the group consisting of: water, dilute aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate, aqueous solution of dilute acid, and recycled aqueous streams which contain small amounts of organic materials and/or of salts.

15. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the weight of alcohol used in step T 1 is from 0.1 to 0.4 per unit weight of hydroxylated oil.

16. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the weight of aqueous solution S 1 used to obtain the reaction mixture A is from 0.01 to 0.4 per unit weight of hydroxylated oil.

17. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the hydroxylated oil is a hydroxylated plant oil.

18. The process as claimed in claim 17 , in which the hydroxylated plant oil is castor oil.

19. The process as claimed in claim 17 , in which the hydroxylated plant oil is lesquerella oil.

20. The process as claimed in claim 17 , in which the hydroxylated plant oil has a hydroxylated fatty acid content of greater than 50% by weight.

21. The process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the transesterification steps T 1 and T 2 are carried out in the presence of methanol.

22. The process as claimed in claim 17 , in which the phase B 1 or C 1 is used, optionally after a subsequent purification, as a biofuel or additive in diesel fuels.

23. The process as claimed in claim 18 , in which the phase B 1 or C 1 is used, optionally after a purification step, as a starting material for the production of 11-aminoundecanoic acid.