In this study, biodiesel production under supercritical conditions among methanol, ethanol, and tert-butyl methyl ether (MTBE) was compared in order to elucidate the differences in their reaction behavior. A continuous reactor was employed, and experiments were conducted at various reaction temperatures (270-400 degrees C) and reaction times (3-30 min) and at a fixed pressure of 20 MPa and an oil-to-reactant molar ratio of 1:40. The results showed that under the same reaction conditions, the supercritical methanol method provided the highest yield of biodiesel. At 350 degrees C and 20 MPa, canola oil was completely converted to biodiesel after 10, 30, and 30 min in the case of -supercritical methanol, ethanol, and MTBE, respectively. The reaction kinetics of biodiesel production was also compared for supercritical methanol, ethanol, and MTBE. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.