Fatty acid methyl ester, the main raw material of vegetable oil fuel, is obtained by esterification of waste oil and methanol. Fatty acid methyl esters can be divided into unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters with double bonds and saturated fatty acid methyl esters without double bonds and triple bonds according to the saturation of carbon chains. The main application of saturated fatty acid methyl ester is to produce the above surfactants. Unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester can be used to produce surfactant and epoxy fatty acid methyl ester. The latter is an important plasticizer, which is widely used to plasticize PVC and other resins, and can partially replace phthalate plasticizers.

The carbon chain of fatty acid methyl ester here is generally between 12-22, mainly saturated fatty acid methyl ester and unsaturated fatty acid methyl ester of 12- 18, and there may be other groups such as side chains and hydroxyl groups. Fatty acid methyl ester is the product of transesterification of oil and methanol, and it can also be the esterification product of fatty acid and methanol in oil and fat. The oil here can be animal oil, such as lard and butter, or vegetable oil, such as soybean oil, palm oil, coconut oil and castor oil.

Good methyl ester is more than 5000 a ton, and its calorific value is more than 9000. Compared with liquefied gas in the market, it has no price advantage and is difficult to popularize. The quality is generally smoky when burning, and the maintenance rate of furnace core is high. Raw material procurement, high price and freezing in winter are also one of the reasons for the difficulty in popularization.