Abstract
Transesterification of soybean oil with methanol to methyl eaters was found proceed in the presence of KOH loaded on five different oxides (CaO, MgO, Al2O3, Bentonite, kaolin) as heterogeneous catalysts. The structure and performance of these catalysts were studied using the techniques of XRD, CO2-TPD, and SEM. It was found that the 15wt% KOH/CaO catalyst provided best activity. In the presence of this catalyst, the yield of fatty acid methyl esters was 97.1%. The reaction conditions were as follows: methanol to soybean oil molar ratio was 16:1, temperature of 65 °C, reaction time of 1 h, and a catalyst amount of 4 wt%. The catalysts of KOH loaded on CaO showed a new crystalline phase of K2O. However, the catalyst of 15-KOH/CaO has more basic sites than the catalyst of 15-KOH/MgO. Therefore, the catalyst of 15-KOH/CaO has been associated with higher transesterification activity.
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