The yield of biodiesel was affected by reaction variables, such as reaction time, reaction temperature, alcohol/oil molar ratio, catalyst loading, speed of mixing, and reusability of catalyst. The reaction variables were associated with the type of catalysts used [10]. Therefore, the effect of reaction variables was studied in the presence of calcined dolomite catalyst.
In the initial stages of the microwave-assisted transesterification reaction, production of biodiesel was rapid, and the rate diminished and finally reached equilibrium [7] in about 4 min (Fig. 2). This can be explained by that transesterification reaction between Jatropha Curcas oil and methanol is reversible, when the reaction time is long enough [6].