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. 2022 Dec 25;10(1):29. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering10010029

Table 7.

Comparison of acid versus alkali-catalyzed transesterification process of biodiesel production, reported by [27].

Transesterification Process Merits Demerits
Acid-based catalyzed reaction Suitable in the presence of high levels of FFA and water.
No need for pretreatment.
Fewer environmental problems and less toxic effect.
Few main processing units.		 Slow reaction.
High temperature, pressure, and alcohol/oil ratio.
Environmental contamination.
Required costly equipment.
Alkali-based catalyzed reaction Low temperature, pressure, and alcohol/oil ratio.
High reaction rate.
Smaller equipment, good corrosion resistance properties.
Low cost of catalyst.		 Need of pretreatment.
Low ester yields and byproducts without pretreatment.
Saponification occurs.