Table 1 shows the fatty acid compositions of common
vegetable oils [10]. The critical temperatures and critical
pressures of various alcohols are given in Table 2. The crit-
ical temperature and critical pressure of methanol is
512.2 K and 8.1 MPa, respectively. The fuel properties of
biodiesels obtained from different vegetable oils and fats
are given in Table 3 [22–25]. The kinematic viscosity of
No. 2 Diesel fuel is 2.7 mm2
/s. The vegetable oils were all
extremely viscous, with viscosities ranging 10–20 times
greater than No. 2 Diesel fuel. Compared to No. 2 Diesel
fuel, all of the vegetable oils are much more viscous, while
the methyl esters of vegetable oils are slightly more viscous.
The transesterification reaction proceeds with or with-
out a catalyst by using primary or secondary monohydric
aliphatic alcohols having 1–8 carbon atoms as follows [10]: