As known, glycerol, one of the products from reversible transesterification of alcohol with glycerides, drives the reaction
backward. This work focuses on the effects of glycerol in the reaction with image analysis. The experiments were done by using
various alcohols and refined palm oil (molar ratio of 6:1) with sodium methoxide catalyst (0.6% w/w oil) at 60 oC for 10 minutes.
Amounts of glycerol and order of mixing glycerol with oil or alcohol were studied. Results show that the glycerol amount estimated
from image analysis is mostly compatible with titration determinations. Image analysis shows that glycerol dissolves well in
methanol and yields less generated glycerol. The different alcohols give different amounts of glycerol. Longer reaction time gives
more and larger glycerol drops, which slows down the mass transfer rate of transesterification and induces the reaction to pseudoequilibrium.