In-situ transesterification reaction for biodiesel production

Abstract

Biodiesel synthesis can be conducted using transesterification of triglycerides in the presence of catalyst and alcohol. The oil extraction and transesterification steps are carried out separately for the conventional biodiesel production, which can result in longer time requirement and using different operating units. An alternative to the conventional method is the in-situ transesterification process, where it combines both extraction and transesterification processes into a single-step process. Biomass feedstock is used directly in the in-situ method, which can reduce the time required to obtain biodiesel, as well as conduct both processes simultaneously. The single-step process can be integrated with other technology such as microwave irradiation to enhance biodiesel productivity. Furthermore, the in-situ transesterification process involving microalgae feedstock has started to gain attention from researchers, where microalgae biomass is utilized as a feedstock for the in-situ transesterification process without the lipid extraction step prior to the transesterification reaction. This chapter focused on the in-situ transesterification process for biodiesel production, particularly for both catalytic and non-catalytic processes, and also the application of the single-step process for biodiesel synthesis from microalgae.