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Biodiesel Perez-cisneros-2016-An-integrated-reactive-distillation PDF
Biodiesel Perez-cisneros-2016-An-integrated-reactive-distillation PDF
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: An integrated reactive distillation process for biodiesel production is proposed. The reactive separation
Received 1 October 2015 process consists of two coupled reactive distillation columns (RDCs) considering the kinetically controlled
Received in revised form reactions of esterification of the fatty acids (FFA) and the transesterification of glycerides with methanol,
29 December 2015
respectively. The conceptual design of the reactive distillation columns was performed through the con-
Accepted 10 January 2016
Available online 18 January 2016
struction of reactive residue curve maps in terms of elements. The design of the esterification reactive
distillation column consisted of one reactive zone loaded with Amberlyst 15 catalyst and for the trans-
esterification reactive column two reactive zones loaded with MgO were used. Intensive simulation of
Keywords:
Reactive distillation the integrated reactive process considering the complex kinetic expressions and the PC-SAFT EOS was
Biodiesel production performed using the computational environment of Aspen Plus. The final integrated RD process was able
Conceptual design to handle more than 1% wt of fatty acid contents in the vegetable oil. However, results showed that the
Reactive residue curve maps amount of fatty acids in the vegetable oil feed plays a key role on the performance (energy cost, catalyst
Element concept load, methanol flow rate) of the integrated esterification–transesterification reactive distillation process.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction substitute fuel. Biodiesel, made from vegetal oils or animal fats, has
a renewable nature and a lower contribution to global warming due
After a century where petroleum has dominated as the preferred to its almost-closed carbon cycle. Analysis has shown that, with the
energy source and as raw material for the production of organic use of biodiesel, CO2 emissions can decrease up to 78%. This biofuel
chemicals, the continuous reduction of oil reservoirs, its increas- is conventionally produced through batch or continuous trans-
ing extraction cost, the emergence of new economies where oil esterification of highly refined vegetable oils with methanol by
demand is increasing exponentially and natural disasters in pro- using homogeneous alkaline catalysts such as sodium or potassium
ducing areas are forcing the oil consumer countries to redefine their hydroxides (Fukuda et al., 2001). Waste cooking oils can also be
energy strategies. In Europe, where oil demand largely exceeds used for biodiesel production, reducing the related production costs
domestic production, the search for new oil substitutes has been and problems concerning the disposal of waste cooking oils that can
in the agenda of both the European Commission and the member cause environmental water contamination. However, the conven-
state governments (Van Gerpen, 2007). Environmental concerns tional technology is not compatible with oils which free fatty acids
are also limiting petroleum based fuels consumption. We have been (FFAs) content exceeds a threshold value of about 1% wt. A possible
witnessing an intensification of air pollution and global warming solution to this drawback could be the development of new tech-
problems due to the emissions of greenhouse gases and other air nologies enabling to employ waste raw materials such as fried oils
contaminants that are produced from the combustion of fossil fuels. or mixture of oils from various sources that cannot be treated in the
As a result of all these issues, studies are nowadays being focused conventional process due to their high content of free fatty acids
on reliable alternatives to conventional diesels. Biodiesel, a blend (Kiss and Bildea, 2012). This perspective discloses the way towards
of fatty acid alkyl esters, is now seen as a sustainable short-term the development of innovative biodiesel production processes such
as those based on heterogeneous two-step reactive-separation pro-
cess, supercritical processes, catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO)
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +52 5558044645; fax: +52 5558044900. processes and membrane technology (Yunus khan et al., 2014).
E-mail address: espc@xanum.uam.mx (E.S. Pérez-Cisneros). Recently, Boon-anuwat et al. (2015) presented a study about the
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compchemeng.2016.01.008
0098-1354/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
234 E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246
design of a continuous reactive distillation process for biodiesel process is used, this is: (a) to perform an analysis of the reactive
production comparing the homogeneous and heterogeneous cat- system in terms of thermodynamic properties, kinetics and catalyst
alyst. They use sodium hydroxide as the homogeneous catalyst available to design a feasible RD process; (b) to perform a con-
and magnesium methoxide as the heterogeneous catalyst for the ceptual design through the computation of reactive residue curve
transesterification of triglyceride with methanol into the reactive maps based on the element concept proposed by Pérez-Cisneros
distillation column. The conclusions from their simulations are et al. (1997) for each occurring chemical reaction; and c) to perform
that the reactive distillation process with the heterogeneous cat- intensive simulation to obtain a feasible and flexible reactive dis-
alyst offers advantages over the conventional process because it tillation column designs and to determine the operating conditions
could eliminate the requirement of post-processing separation and of the integrated process.
purification at cost effective column design and operating con-
ditions. Despite these relevant results, the above work is based 2. The reactive system
only on the transesterification reactions, thus, a pure vegetable
oil is assumed to perform the simulations and a wasted vegetable To describe the reactive system we incorporate the element con-
oil could not be managed. On the other side, Gomez-Castro et al. cept in order to reduce the multicomponent composition space.
(2013) proposed a two-step modified Saka–Dadan reactive distilla- Also, the appropriate thermodynamic model and kinetic expres-
tion process to produce biodiesel with supercritical methanol. They sions to obtain reliable simulation results are considered.
showed that, in terms of production costs and pollutant emission,
the use of reactive distillation for biodiesel production at high pres- 2.1. Chemical reactions and element representation
sure and temperature appears to be an interesting and convenient
alternative. However, it is noticed at this work that the operat- The generic esterification reaction of a carboxylic acid (oleic acid
ing parameters of the reactive distillation column are ambiguously in our case) with methanol, producing methyl oleate (biodiesel) and
extreme for a reactive distillation column setup. Therefore, it is water, is schematically shown below:
clear that additional research and analysis are required to deter-
Amberlyst15
mine if such system could be successfully operated in practice C17 H33 COOH+CH3 OH ←→ C19 H36 O2 + H2 O (1)
and industrial scale. Also, from the experimental point of view, Oleic acid Methanol Methyl Oleate Water
Prasertsit et al. (2013) demonstrated that reactive distillation is a The global transesterification reaction of triolein with methanol
feasible, flexible and reliable alternative to produce biodiesel via to produce three moles of methyl oleate has been selected as a
the transesterification of palm oil with methanol. They used a 4 m model system for the transesterification of a vegetable oil to pro-
long stainless steel column with inside diameter of 1–2 cm, con- duce biodiesel.
nected with 2 L reboiler and found that, for an oil feed flow rate of
Magnesium Oxide
15 ml/min, the optimal condition is at reboiler temperature of 90 ◦ C, C57 H104 O6 +3CH3 OH ←→ 3C19 H36 O2 +C3 H8 O3 (2)
methanol to oil molar ratio of 4.5:1 and the catalyst (KOH) amount Triolein Methanol Methyl Oleate Glycerol
of 1% wt, respect to oil. However, the excess liquid base catalyst with the step by step transesterification reactions as:
should beware for the saponification to form soap in the process.
Magnesium Oxide
Despite the interesting experimental results obtained, the work C57 H104 O6 +CH3 OH ←→ C39 H72 O5 + C19 H36 O2 (3)
deals with a palm oil containing only approximately 0.3–0.6% free Triolein Methanol Diolein Methyl Oleate
fatty acid and less than 1% moisture content, thus, a used vegetable
Magnesium Oxide
oil with higher content of free fatty acid was not considered. C39 H72 O5 + CH3 OH ←→ C21 H40 O4 + C19 H36 O2 (4)
Diolein Methanol Monoolein Methyl Oleate
In the heterogeneous two-step reactive distillation process, the
FFA in the feed is first esterified by acid catalysis to produce one Magnesium Oxide
type of mono-alkyl esters. This esterification step prevents soap C21 H40 O4 +CH3 OH ←→ C3 H8 O3 + C19 H36 O2 (5)
Monoiolein Methanol Glycerol Methyl Oleate
formation during the second reactive separation step, which is the
transesterification of the unreacted triglyceride with alkali or acidic By introducing the element concept proposed by Pérez-Cisneros
catalyst to obtain alkyl esters. This two-step process may be able et al. (1997) the esterification and transesterification reactions
to reduce the overall processing time and it permits processing described in equations (1–5) can be represented in terms of ele-
of feed stocks with high FFA content under normal pressure ments. Table 1 shows the elements definition and the balanced
and temperature operating conditions. For both, the esterifica- reactions in terms of such elements. Also, Table 1 shows the element
tion and transesterification reactions researchers have explored mole fractions which are given in terms of the different species
the use of heterogeneous catalysts. Tesser et al. (2010) studied the participating in each reaction. It should be clear that, while the ele-
transesterification of soybean oil with both basic and acidic het- ments A and C are the same for both reactions, the element B for the
erogeneous catalysts. For esterification reaction the ion exchange esterification reaction means water and for the transesterification
resin Amberlyst 15 proved to be highly effective. On the other reaction means C3 H8 O3 , thus, it is necessary to use a separated ele-
side, Dossin et al. (2006) proposed to use MgO as solid catalyst for ment triangular diagram to represent each reaction in a triangular
the production of biodiesel heterogeneously in a continuous slurry reactive space. Figs. 1 and 2 show the reactive space and the pure
reactor. They showed that the heterogeneous catalysts may allow component location for the esterification and transesterification
good production levels and it presents an interesting alternative reactions, respectively. Note that the triangular element coordinates
to homogeneous catalysts towards a more environment-friendly of the pure components can be straightforward obtained by using
process. Besides, it is generally accepted that a process employ- the element mole fractions definitions and it is done just assign-
ing a solid acid catalyst, if technically feasible, would be preferred ing the unity value to the pure component mole fraction of each
on economic grounds. Thus, in this work, an integrated heteroge- species.
neous two-step reactive distillation process for the production of
biodiesel is investigated. Considering the above, the objective of 2.2. Pure component properties
this work is to develop an integrated reactive distillation process
able to handle a raw material with high FFA content (wasted veg- Due to the great variety of esters species and, in partic-
etable oil) to produce high purity biodiesel. In order to reach this ular, triglycerides, group contribution and corresponding state
objective a systematic procedure for designing of the integrated approaches are the usual methods for the estimation of pure
E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246 235
Table 1
Representation of the reactive system in terms of elements.
component properties. Despite the great variety and practical 2.4. Thermodynamic modelling
importance of these substances families, pure component data are
scarce and have been taken into account to a very limited extent for The thermodynamic modelling of methanol-FFA-triglyceride
the development of thermodynamic models intended for a broad mixtures was performed by means of PC-SAFT equation of state.
variety of substances. The critical properties and PC-SAFT parameters were estimated
One of the reasons is that these components are mostly only with the group contribution method of Marrero and Gani (2001)
available as constituents of complex mixtures and are difficult (see Table 2). The PC-SAFT model has shown its capacity to depict
to obtain in pure form. Therefore, specialized approaches have chain molecule phase behaviour providing better predictions for
been developed for the estimation of pure-component proper- all the system investigated and it is recommended as reference EOS
ties of biodiesel-related substances, and little has been published to represent phase equilibria involved in vegetable oils process
on model comparisons. Sales-Cruz et al. (2010) predicted critical (Annesini et al., 2014). Equilibrium calculations were carried out
236 E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246
Table 2
Critical properties of the pure components and PC-SAFT equation of state parameters. *Properties determined using the Marrero and Gani (2001) method included in ICAS
Platform (CAPEC, 2015).
MW (gr/mol) Tb (K) Tc (K) Pc (Bar) w m (A) ε/k (K) εAB (K) AB
Table 3
Kinetic expressions for esterification and transesterification reactions.
by means of one of the most up-to-date version of the original Where mi and i correspond to the number of segments which
EOS which is known as perturbed chain SAFT (PC-SAFT). SAFT is constitute the chain of the ith component and to its diameter,
one of the most important association theory which belongs to the respectively, while xi is the component mole fraction. The dis-
general perturbation category. persion term (disp) in Eq. (6), according to Barker and Henderson
It is based on the Wertheim’s first order perturbation theory (1967), consists of a first and second order contributions
(Wertheim, 1984) and it has been implemented into useful expres-
Adisp A1 A2 ε
sions in several studies. SAFT EOS considers molecules as chains ij
= + = −2I1 (, m̄) xi xj mi mj ij3 −
composed of freely jointed spherical segments and the basic idea NkT NkT NkT kT
i j
underlying the model is the definition of an interaction potential to
−1
represent attraction and repulsion forces between segments. The ∂Z hc
molecular model can be refined by assuming the segments to have − m 1 + Z hc + I2 (, m̄) xi xj mi mj
∂
association sites and partial charges enabling the chains to associate i j
or repulse by hydrogen bonds and dipole interactions. Conse- ε 2
ij
quently, the residual Helmholtz free energy, is made up by terms × ij3 (8)
stemmed from each of these contributions. The PC-SAFT EOS main kT
innovation relies on considering perturbation respect to spherical where Zhc is the hard-chain contribution expressed in terms of
segments which are connected into rigid chains (hard-chain term) compressibility factor, is a packing factor and I1 and I2 are inte-
rather than disconnected segments (Gross and Sadowsky, 2001). gral terms. Expressions of these terms depend on the choice of the
Obviously, this means considering interactions between chains interaction potential, which in PC-SAFT model is assumed to be a
instead of single segments and this would allow to capture the modified version of the classical square-well suggested by Chen
behaviour of chain molecule, such as hydrocarbons and polymers, and Kreglewski (1977). The interaction potential is then charac-
more realistically. In this way, the residual Helmholtz free energy terized by the three parameters, mi , i and εi , which is the well
can be written as: potential depth. For definition and exhaustive derivation of all the
Ares Ahc Adisp Aassoc terms appearing in Eqs. (6)–(9) it should be reviewed the reference
= + + (6) of Gross and Sadowsky (2001). Mixtures extension provided in Eq.
NkT NkT NkT NkT
(8) requires definition of mixing rules for a pair of unlike segments,
In Eq. (6) the hard-chain (hc) reference term accounts for hard- which according to Berthelot–Lorentz, results may be given as:
sphere (hs) and chain formation contributions
1
ij = ( + j ), εij = εi εj (1 − kij ) (9)
Ahc
=A hs
xi mi + xi (1 − mi ) ln giihs (ii ) (7) 2 i
i i In this work, binary interaction parameters were not included.
E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246 237
Fig. 3. Residue curve map for esterification reaction in terms of elements. Fig. 4. Liquid composition and temperature profile for the residue curve at ˛ = 40.
4. Intensive simulation
Fig. 7. Basic configurations of RDC for the esterification reaction (first step).
Table 4a
Summarized simulation results for the esterification RDC configuration (a): RDC-with total condenser. Feed ratio 1:1 acid/Methanol (kmol/h). Reflux ratio = 1.0. Catalyst load
of 1000 kg at each reactive stage. OA, oleic Acid; MeOH, methanol.
Input Results
Run Id Stages Feed stage Feed Boilup ratio Oleic Acid Methyl Oleate Temperature (◦ C)
Oleic acid Temperature Conversion Flow rate
(◦ C) (kmol/hr)
Total From-to
Table 4b
Summarized simulation results for the esterification RDC configuration (b): RDC-with partial condenser. Feed ratio 1:1 Oleic acid/Methanol (kmol/h). Reflux ratio = 1. Catalyst
load of 1000 kg at each reactive stage, Oleic acid feed temperature = 326 ◦ C. 2 stripping stages.
Input Results
Run Id Stages Feed stage Reflux ratio Feed Boilup ratio Oleic acid Methyl oleate Temperature (◦ C)
Oleic acid Temp. (◦ C) conversion flow rate
MeOH (kmol/h)
Total From-to
4.2. Intensive simulation. Transesterification RDC MgO solid catalyst considering one methanol feed; (ii) a RDC with
two reactive zones considering two methanol feeds. Fig. 8 shows
To determine a feasible structure of the transesterification (sec- the basic configurations of the two reactive distillation columns.
ond step) reactive distillation column two basic configurations of The same systematic procedure to determine the best RDC struc-
RDC are proposed: (i) a RDC with one reactive zone loaded with ture of the esterification step was followed to achieve the complete
240 E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246
Table 4c
Summarized simulation results for the esterification RDC configuration (c): RDC-without condenser. Feed ratio 1:1 Oleic acid/Methanol (kmol/h). Reflux ratio = 1. Catalyst
load of 1000 kg at each reactive stage, Oleic acid feed temperature = 326 ◦ C. Methanol feed temperature = 55 ◦ C. 2 stripping stages.
Input Results
Run Id Stages Feed Stage Boilup ratio Oleic Acid Methyl Oleate Flow Temperature (◦ C)
Oleic Acid Conversion rate (kmol/hr)
Total From-to
Table 5
Intensive simulation. Final design specifications for the three reactive distillation columns after intensive simulation of the esterification step.
conversion of triolein using, in this case, the two basic configura- 5. The integrated reactive distillation process
tions proposed. Tables 6a and 6b show the summarized intensive
simulation results of the two RDC. It can be noted from those tables With the analysis of the reactive residue curve maps and,
that the best configuration for the esterification reactions is the RDC through intensive simulation of the reactive distillation columns
with two reactive zones and two methanol feeds. Despite the two for each reaction (two-step process) performed in the Aspen Plus
RDC configurations has the same structure (25 total stages and 21 environment, a final integrated reactive distillation process to pro-
reactive stages), the amount of methanol used for complete con- duce biodiesel was obtained. Fig. 9 shows the integrated process
version of triolein is less for the configuration with two methanol considering two reactive distillation columns: (a) a RDC for the
feeds. Table 7 shows the final design specification of the two RDC esterification reaction without condenser and one reactive section
configurations. loaded with a solid catalyst (Amberlyst 15) and, (b) a RDC for the
Fig. 8. Basic configurations of RDC for the transesterification reaction (second step).
Table 6a
Summarized simulation results for the transesterification RDC configuration (a). RDC-one methanol feed. 3 stripping stages. TO, triolein; DO, diolein; MOO, monoolein; MeOH, methanol.
Run Id Feed ratio TO/MeOH Stages Feed Stage Reflux ratio Feed Triolein Methyl Oleate Flow Temperature (◦ C) Triolein Flor rate Glycerol Flow rate
(kmol/h) temperature Conversion rate (kmol/h) (kmol/h) (kmol/h)
(◦ C)
Reactive Rec. Total TO MeOH TO MeOH Top Total Top Bottom Bottom Top Bottom Top
S1-9 1:6.5 14 4–17 3 20 3 18 1.7 821 51 91.652 4.8E−16 231.19 64.45 326.70 8.35 2.8E−14 57.21 8.9E−11
S2-10 1:6.5 14 4–17 3 20 3 18 1.3 821 51 86.224 3.7E−15 201.90 64.45 180.99 13.77 1.2E−13 42.95 2.7E−10
S3-8 1:6.5 14 4–17 3 20 3 18 1.7 821 55 89.955 8.0E−16 221.62 64.45 170.44 10.04 3.9E−14 52.40 1.1E−10
Table 6b
Summarized simulation results for the transesterification RDC configuration (b). RDC- two methanol feeds. 25 total stages, 3 stripping stages, 1 rectifying stage and 21 reactive stages. TO fed at stage 2 at 830 ◦ C and MeOH at 55 ◦ C.
TO, triolein; DO, diolein; MOO, monoolein; MeOH, methanol.
Run Id Methanol Feed Feed Stage Reflux ratio Triolein Methyl Oleate flow Temperature (◦ C) Triolein flow rate Mono Olein flow Glycerol flow rate
Flow rate (kmol/h) (MeOH) conversion rate (kmol/h) (kmol/h) rate (kmol/h) (kmol/h)
Feed 1 Feed 2 Feed 1 Feed 2 Top Total Top Bottom Bottom Top Bottom Top Bottom Top
S1-3 500 700 6 23 3 99.791 6.5E−06 294.84 64.45 121.89 0.209 9.6E−06 3.87 7.1E−09 95.59 7.9E−05
S1-7 500 700 10 23 3 99.803 6.5E−06 294.90 64.45 121.90 0.197 9.6E−06 3.86 7.1E−09 95.62 7.9E−05
S1-11 500 800 13 23 3 99.803 5.6E−06 295.13 64.45 114.48 0.196 6.7E−06 3.68 5.9E−09 95.82 7.6E−05
S2-2 600 500 6 23 3 99.794 7.8E−06 294.77 64.45 132.83 0.206 1.4E−05 3.94 8.8E−09 95.52 8.3E−05
S2-5 600 500 11 23 3 99.915 7.8E−06 295.56 64.45 133.13 0.085 1.4E−05 3.60 8.8E−09 96.02 8.3E−05
S2-14 1000 500 12 23 3 99.951 4.1E−06 297.28 64.45 104.80 0.049 3.5E−06 2.30 4.1E−09 97.51 7.1E−05
S2-19 1000 500 13 23 3 99.951 4.1E−06 297.28 64.45 104.80 0.049 3.5E−06 2.31 4.1E−09 97.51 7.1E−05
S2-22 1000 500 14 23 3 99.952 4.1E−06 297.28 64.45 104.80 0.048 3.5E−06 2.31 4.1E−09 97.50 7.1E−05
S3-1 600 500 11 23 3.5 99.929 5.3E−06 296.06 64.45 124.24 0.071 7.3E−06 3.2 5.7E−09 96.44 6.7E−05
241
242 E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246
Table 7
Intensive simulation. Final design specifications for the two reactive distillation columns after intensive simulation of the transesterification step.
transesterification reaction with two reactive sections loaded with the temperature profile of the reactive distillation column. Consid-
solid catalyst (MgO) and two methanol feeds. The first reactive ering only the bottom of the column, the temperature goes from
distillation column (esterification step) is fed with a mixture of 349 ◦ C (run Id: EST-1) to 154 ◦ C (run id: EST-13). Therefore, it can be
oleic acid and triolein, modelling a used vegetable oil (86 kmol/h concluded from the simulation results that the energy consumption
of triolein and 14 kmol/h of oleic acid) and 70 kmol/h of methanol. is highly dependent of the triolein-oleic acid mixture concentra-
For the simulation of the integrated reactive process the design tion. Also, the methanol feed flow rate, the boilup ratio and the
goal established were: 99.99% conversion of oleic acid for the catalyst load were manipulated for this RDC. Results of intensive
esterification column and 99.9% conversion of triolein for the trans- simulation (see Table 8) show that the run id: EST-12 has a combi-
esterification column. nation of design and operating variables (800 Kg of catalyst, boilup
As was stated before, the objectives of the present work is to ratio = 0.8 and methanol feed flow rate = 70 kmol/h) which leads to a
develop a reactive distillation process able to deal with mixtures feasible RDC performance in terms of FFA conversion (99.926%) and
representing a used or wasted vegetal oil (triolein and oleic acid), energy consumption. It should be clear that, as the methanol is fed
thus, the effect of the content of FFA in the oil feed, the boil up in an equimolar amount and the target conversion is almost com-
ratio and the methanol feed flow rate, on the performance of the plete, the temperature at the top of the column corresponds to the
esterification RDC, was investigated. For example, first, the reflux water boiling point instead of the boiling point of methanol as was
and boilup ratio were manipulated to achieve a reasonable purity determined with the reactive residue curve map. Also, it should be
of biodiesel. Further, the amount of catalyst was varied until the pointed out that, the final esterification reactive distillation column
conversion of the reactants, the design goals, were reached. Also, design obtained after intensive simulation could manage vegetable
considering the above, different feed compositions were tested to oils with a higher content of free fatty acids than 1% wt.
obtain a robust configuration of the integrated reactive distillation Once the best structure of the RDC for the transesterification
column. Table 8 shows the results simulations obtained with the reaction is found (Section 4.2), intensive simulation of the trases-
RDC configuration without condenser. It can be noted in Table 8 terification RDC in the integrated reactive process is performed to
that the amount of FFA in the oil feed was varied from 0.742 to 0.045 observe the influence of some operating variables. Table 9 shows
weight fraction and how this composition change affects strongly the effect of the reflux ratio, the boilup ratio and the methanol feed
E.S. Pérez-Cisneros et al. / Computers and Chemical Engineering 91 (2016) 233–246 243
Table 8
Intensive Simulation of the integrated reactive distillation process. Effect of the FFA (oleic Acid) content in the oil feed on the esterification reactive distillation column.
Run Id FFA (Oleic Acid) wt fraction in the feed Boilup ratio Methanol feed flow (kmol/h) Biodiesel flow (kmol/h) Temperature (◦ C)
Table 9
Intensive simulation of the integrated reactive distillation process. Effect of the boilup ratio, reflux ratio and methanol feed flow rate on the transesterification reactive
distillation column.
Run Id Reflux ratio Boilup ratio Methanol feed flowrate 1 (kmol/h) Biodiesel flow (kmol/h) Temperature (◦ C)
Table 10
Final design specifications of the integrated reactive distillation process for biodiesel production.
Table 11
Stream molar flowrates, temperature and compositions of the integrated reactive distillation process.
Stream 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Molar flow (kmol/h) 100 70 14.234 155.7695 55.7447 13.9888 86 400 500 700.97 354.766 268.77 85.996
Temperature (◦ C) 326 55 99.984 154.98 64.4962 344.23 830 55 55 64.45 329.24 301.54 301.54
Pressure (atm) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Fig. 10. (a) Temperature column profile of the RDC for the esterification first step.
(b) Temperature column profile for the transesterification second step.
Fig. 11. (a) Methyl Oleate reaction rate column profile for the esterification RDC. (b)
Reaction rate column profiles for the transesterification RDC.
6. Conclusions
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