Review on Preparation of Biodiesel by Transesterification of Inedible Oil

Abstract

Biodiesel attracts widespread attention as an excellent alternative energy for diesel. By consulting databases such as CNKI, Scopus, the relevant literature on biodiesel preparation was summarized, and the latest research progress in biodiesel preparation by catalytic transesterification was overviewed to help researchers in this field. This paper raises the following viewpoints: The current research tends to prepare biodiesel from nonedible oil as raw material by heterogeneous catalysis transesterification. Catalysts are evolving towards multi-functionality and magnetic responsiveness. Supported catalysts prepared with stable catalyst carriers and catalytically active materials have aroused concern, and environmentally friendly catalysts prepared from waste biomass have received particular attention. Hydrodynamic cavitation, microwave and electrolysis have also been used to assist transesterification. In addition, this paper reviews quantitative evaluation of biodiesel from multiple aspects of conversion rate, methyl ester purity and mass yield to improve the accuracy in evaluation.