Abstract. Zn/I2 was found to be a practical and effective catalyst for the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol. A study for optimizing the reaction conditions such as the molar ratio of methanol to oil, the reaction time and the catalyst amount, was performed. The highest conversion of 96% was obtained under the optimum conditions. Further, the effect of free fatty acids and water…
Biodiesel produced by the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats with short-chain alcohols (typically methanol) is a promising alternative fuel for diesel engines, because of the limited resources of fossil fuels and environmental concerns. In this work, Li/ZnO catalysts were prepared using an impregnation method followed by calcinations, and then they were tested for soybean oil …