Superfast Transesterification of Triolein Using Dimethyl Ether and a Method for High-Yield Transesterification

Superfast transesterification of triolein (a biodiesel feedstock model) was achieved in the presence of liquefied dimethyl ether using the co-solvent effect and low viscosity. Furthermore, a method for higher ester yield, in which methanol was additionally introduced into the reaction system immediately before the beginning of phase separation due to byproduct glycerin to maintain the reaction system in a homogeneous state, was proposed. This method led to superfast and high-yield transesterification with a yield exceeding 96% at 3 min.