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].