Transesterification of palm oil to methyl ester on activated carbon supported calcium oxide catalyst

► Methyl ester was produced by transesterification of cooking palm oil using activated carbon-supported calcium oxide as a solid base catalyst. ► The process optimization studies discovered highest ME content of 80.98% was achieved at 5.5 wt% catalyst amount, 190 °C temperature, 15:1 methanol to oil molar ratio and 1 h 21 min reaction time. ► Catalyst regeneration studies indicate that the catalyst performance is sustained after two cycles of transesterification reaction.