Patent ID: 8466304

Claim:
A method for producing fatty acid alkyl esters and glycerin, comprising implementing a set of transesterification reactions between a vegetable or animal oil and an aliphatic monoalcohol in the presence of a heterogeneous solid catalyst, so as to obtain an effluent comprising at least (a) alkyl esters, (b) glycerin containing free glycerol, (c) bonded glycerol and (d) alcohol, conducting at least one stage of membrane separation on a stream E in order to separate the ester produced and the bonded glycerol, said separation implementing at least one membrane permeable to water, alcohol, alkyl ester, glycerin, and poorly or non permeable to mono-, di- and tri-diglycerides, said membrane separation being conducted at the end of a first reaction stage having been conducted in a first conversion reactor ( 2 ) and performed on said stream E predominantly containing alkyl esters, alcohol, glycerol, partly converted glycerides and water traces, said stream E being obtained after separation of glycerin F, produced in said first conversion reactor ( 2 ), by decanting said effluent into stream E and glycerin F.