Abstract: Transesterification of rapeseed oil to biodiesel with methanol using calcium methoxide as a solid base catalyst was investigated. The surface area, total pore volume, average pore diameter and thermal stability of calcium methoxide catalyst were measured. The effects of various parameters, such as reaction temperature, mass ratio of catalyst to oil and molar ratio of methanol to oil on the biodiesel yield was studied and the reaction conditions were optimized. The results showed that calcium methoxide exhibited strong basicity and good thermal stability. Under the optimal reaction conditions of a molar ratio of methanol to oil of 22, a catalyst dosage of 2.0%, a reaction temperature of 65℃ and a reaction time of 2.5 h, the yield of obtained biodiesel reached 95%.

Key words: calcium methoxide, biodiesel, fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), transesterification, solid base.