Settling and separation
After completion of the reaction, the reaction mixture was allowed a settling time of 8–10 h in a separating funnel. Two layers were obtained with a top layer of coconut methyl ester (CME) and the bottomlayer of sodium salt of glycerol with other organics. The crude glycerol layer obtained was decanted out and used for the separation of glycerin while the top CME layer was used for further purification.