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

• DOI: 10.1007/s10562-007-9071-3
• Publication Date: 2007-03-26T12:29:29Z
• Authors: J. Link Shumaker; Czarena Crofcheck; S. Adam Tackett; Eduardo Santillan...; Mark Crocker
• Keywords: Soybean oil; Organometallic Chemistry

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.