Conversion of Vegetable Oils and Mixed Fat into Biodiesel Using Al2O3-Supported CaO Catalyst
The transesterification of rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and mixed fat were conducted at 65℃ with Al2O3-supported CaO, 0.8 wt% KOH, 1 wt% NaOH and mixed catalyst. The overall conversion(%) of rapeseed oil indicated to be 96% at the 12:1 molar ratio of methanol to oil, 8 wt% CaO and 2 wt% water. The pH ranges of biodiesel for mixed fat using four catalysts and for three fats using 8wt% CaO were 7.3-9.1, 7.3-7.5, respectively. The volumes of water needed to wash biodiesel from rapeseed oil using 0.8 wt% KOH and 8 wt% CaO were 15 mL and 3 mL.