Patent ID: 8871961

Claim:
A method for producing a fatty acid alkyl ester from a vegetable oil or animal fat, the method comprising: (1) transesterifying a triglyceride comprised in the fat or oil with methanol or ethanol in the presence of an alkaline catalyst, to obtain a crude fatty acid alkyl ester; (2) subsequently, washing the crude fatty acid alkyl ester with water to remove a water-soluble impurity, to obtain a washed ester and a wash fraction; (3) subsequently, drying the washed ester by heating at atmospheric pressure or negative pressure, thereby reducing a water content of the washed ester, to obtain a dried ester; (4) subsequently, removing a dissolved stearyl glycoside present in the dried ester by adsorption in the presence of at least one adsorbent comprising a clay mineral; and (5) regenerating the at least one adsorbent, from a loaded absorbent, which is loaded with a loading composition comprising a stearyl glycoside, by treating the loaded absorbent with an ester-alcohol mixture comprising a fatty acid alkyl ester, a fatty acid alcohol, or a combination thereof.