Heterogeneous solid base catalysts for biodiesel production

Heterogeneous solid base catalysts(CaO based catalysts),such as CaO/SiO_2,CaO/Al_2O_3 and CaO/MgO,were prepared and used in transesterification reaction for production of biodiesel.The catalysts were characterized by XRD and BET.Influences of transesterification condition were investigated.The results showed that CaO was well dispersed over the support and the supported CaO catalysts exhibited excellent activity for the transesterification.Optimal conditions for catalyst preparation and transesterification reaction are as follows: calcination temperature 700 ℃,catalyst dosage=1% of the oil,n(methanol)∶n(oil)=18∶1,reaction temperature 60-65 ℃,reaction time 10 h.