Definitions for "Transesterification"
The process by which the vegetable oil molecule is "cracked" and the glycerin is removed, resulting in glycerin soap and methyl/ethyl esters (biodiesel). Organic fats and oils are triglycerides which are three hydrocarbon chains connected by glycerol. The bonds are broken hydrolyzing them to form free fatty acids. These fatty acids are then mixed or reacted with methanol or ethanol forming methyl or ethyl fatty acid esters. The mixture separates and settles out leaving the glycerin on the bottom and the methyl/ethyl ester or biodiesel on the top. The glycerin is then used for soap or any one of several hundred other products and the biodiesel is filtered and washed to be used as a fuel in a diesel engine.
The process of making biodiesel by the separation of the three hydrocarbon chains from a lipid triglyceride to form glycerol, and biodiesel. It is the process of exchanging the alkyl group of an ester by another alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base. Acids can catalyse the reaction by donating an electron to the alkyl group, thus making it more reactive, while bases can catalyse the reaction by removing an electron from the alcohol, thus making it more reactive.
A process in which organically-derived oils or fats are combined with alcohol (ethanol or methanol) in the presence of a catalyst to form esters (ethyl or methyl ester).