Transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel using SrO as a solid base catalyst

In this study, transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel using SrO as a solid base catalyst was studied. The reaction mechanism was proposed and the separate effects of reaction temperature, molar ratio of methanol to oil, mass ratio of catalyst to oil and repeated experiments were investigated. The results showed that the yield of biodiesel produced with SrO as a catalyst was in excess of 95% at temperatures below 70 degrees C within 30 min. SrO had a long catalyst lifetime and could maintain sustained activity even after being repeatedly used for 10 cycles. The results proved that transesterification of soybean oil to biodiesel using SrO as a catalyst is a commercially viable way to decrease the costs of biodiesel production. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.