Transesterification of Jatropha Oil to Biodiesel by Using Catalyst Containing Ca(C₃H₇O₃)₂ as a Solid Base Catalyst

An direct precipitation method of Calcium glyceroxide Ca(C3H7O3)2 was proposed. The prepared Ca(C3H7O3)2 was effective in transesterification of Jatropha oil into fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). The Ca(C3H7O3)2 catalysts were characterized by using XRD, solid state 13C-NMR, FTIR, and Hammett indicator. The influence of various reaction variables on the conversion was investigated. Under a condition of methanol/oil molar ratio of 9:1, a catalyst amount of 4 wt %, reaction time of 1.5 h, and reaction temperature of 65 °C, over 95% of biodiesel yield was obtained.