The heterogeneous advantage: biodiesel by catalytic reactive distillation

The incentives for using biodiesel as renewable fuel and the difficulties associated with its production are outlined. The pros and cons of manufacturing biodiesel via fatty acid esterification using solid acid catalysts are investigated. Finding a suitable catalyst that is active, selective, and stable under the process conditions is the major challenge. The most promising candidates were found to be the sulfated metal oxides that can be used to develop a sustainable esterification process based on catalytic reactive distillation.