Products and production routes for the catalytic conversion of seed oil into fuel and chemicals: a comprehensive review

With the depletion of fossil resources, there is a need to find alternative resources of fuels and chemicals. The use of renewable feedstock such as those from seed oil processing is one of the best available resources that have come to the fore-front recently. This paper critically analyzes and highlights major factors in the biodiesel industry, such as seeds oil composition, production methods, properties of biodiesel, problems and potential solutions of using vegetable seed oil, the composition, quality and effective utilization of crude glycerol, the catalytic conversion of glycerol into possible fuels and chemicals.