The alkaline catalyst, sodium hydroxide concentration in
the range of 0.3–1% (weight of NaOH/weight of oil) is used
in the present experimental analysis. The effect of catalyst
amount on conversion efficiency is shown in Fig. 4. The
maximum conversion efficiency is achieved at 0.5% of
NaOH. Addition of excess amount of catalyst, gave rise to
the formation of an emulsion, which increased the viscosity
and led to the formation of gels. Esterification does not take
place for insufficient amount of NaOH addition.