Advantages
Disadvantages
Very fast reaction rate 4000 time faster than acid-catalyzed transesterification
Sensitive to FFA content in the oil Soap will form if FFA content in the oil is more than 2 wt%
Reaction can occur at mild reaction conditions and less energy intensive
Too much soap formation will decrease the biodiesel yield and cause problem during product purification especially generating huge amount of wastewater
Reaction can occur at mild reaction conditions and less energy intensive
Sensitive to FFA content in the oil Soap will form if FFA content in the oil is more than 2 wt%
Easy separation of catalyst from product High possibility to reuse and regenerate the catalyst Low solubility in methanol and can be synthesized from cheap sources (Zabeti et al., 2009)
Too much soap formation will decrease the biodiesel yield and cause problem during product purification especially generating huge amount of wastewater
More efficient when the amount of FFA in the oil exceeds 1 wt% (Zhang et al., 2003)
Slower reaction rate Requirement of higher reaction temperature, high molar ratio of alcohol to oil
a one-step process
Insensitive to FFA and water content in the oil Preferred method if low-grade oil used Esterification and transesterification occur simultaneously
Normally, high reaction temperature, high alcohol to oil molar ratio and long reaction time are required
Easy separation of catalyst from product High possibility to reuse and regenerate the catalyst
Energy intensive Leaching of catalyst active sites may result in product contamination
Enzyme
Preferred method if low-grade oil is used Transesterification can be carried out at low reaction temperature, even lower than homogeneous base catalyst
High cost Sensitive to alcohol, typically methanol that can deactivate the enzyme