Transesterification of Soybean Oil Using CsF/CaO Catalysts

Fatty acid methyl ether (FAME) is a green biofuel that can be used as an alternative fuel to replace conventional petroleum. A novel solid base catalyst, CsF/CaO, was used to catalyze the transesterification of soybean oil to produce FAME. This catalyst showed strong basicity, resulting in high reactivity on transesterification. With an 8% catalyst dosage, 12:1 molar ratio of methanol to oil and 1% water content in oil, the FAME yield reached 98% at 65 degrees C in 1 h. Moreover, the catalyst also exhibited high resistance to water, which allowed more flexibility for biodiesel mass production. The transesterification of soybean oil followed a second-order reversible kinetic rate equation. The forward reaction rate constants and apparent activation energy were evaluated. Comparisons with the experimental data indicated that the kinetic model was suitable for predicting the yield of FAME.