Process Intensification Using CO2 As Cosolvent under Supercritical Conditions Applied to the Design of Biodiesel Production
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: In this work, a new process for biodiesel production under supercritical conditions in presence of cosolvent (CO 2 ) is designed and simulated using the process simulator Aspen Plus. The model was developed using experimental reaction data of continuous catalytic biodiesel synthesis at a 74:25:1 CO 2 to methanol to triglycerides molar ratio, temperature range between 150 and 300 °C, at 250 bar. To decrease the temperature and pressure of operation and increase the conversion efficiency of biodiesel, CO 2 was added as cosolvent to the reactants. Triolein (C 57 H 104 O 6 ) was chosen to represent the vegetal oil and methyl oleate (C 19 H 36 O 2 ), biodiesel. A detailed kinetic model based on a three step reversible reaction scheme is used to describe the transesterification reaction in the process simulator. The simulated process resulted in full triolein conversion and a high purity (99.8%) fatty acid methyl esters product. The process plant was designed and simulated to operate in a continuous mode and the annual production capacity of the plant was set at 10000 tons. The total energy for the designed process was 2223 kW. On the basis of a preliminary economical study the minimum selling price of biodiesel is 0.83$/L for a plant capacity of 10000 tons. A profitability analysis was conducted and the payback time was estimated as a function of the selling price and the plant capacity.
DOI: 10.1021/ie402657e
Authors: J. Maçaira, A. Santana, A. Costa, E. Ramirez, M. A. Larrayoz
Language: English
Subfield: Fuel Technology
Field: Energy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W91134739