Transesterification of palm oil with methanol to biodiesel over K2CO3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst.

The supported solid base catalyst K2CO3/γ-Al2O3 was prepared by impregnation and characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD)and thermogravimetric analysis method(DSC-TGA).Their catalytic activities were evaluated in the transesterification of palm oil with methanol to biodiesel.Results showed that the active composition was supported on γ-Al2O3,and the interaction between the support and active composition was observed when the catalyst was calcinated at the high temperature.The optimum condition was as follows:the loading of K2CO3 22.6%,the molar ratio of methanol to oil 12∶1,reaction time 3 h,the catalyst concentration 3%,and the reaction temperature 65 ℃.Under these conditions,the transesterification yield of FAME reached 91.6%.