Biodiesel production from soybean oil using calcined Li-Al layered double hydroxide catalysts

The transesterification of soybean oil to fatty acid methyl esters was studied using a calcined Li-Al layered double hydroxide catalyst. The catalyst exhibited high activity, with near quantitative oil conversion being obtained under mild conditions (reflux temperature of methanol) and short reaction times (<= 4 h). The influence of relevant parameters (catalyst calcination temperature, methanol to oil mole ratio, catalyst charge and reaction duration) was examined.