(82c) Extraction of Methanol and Glycerine from Crude Biodiesel

The biodiesel industry is rapidly expanding and optimized unit operations are required in order to insure economical processes. One of the process steps involves the removal of methanol and glycerine from crude biodiesel feed, after transesterification and separation. This step can be accomplished by liquid-liquid extraction using water as the solvent to extract the methanol and glycerine from the crude biodiesel feed. This paper covers the evaluation of three (3) different types of counter current extraction coluumns; the KARR Reciprocating Plate Column, the SCHEIBEL Column and a static column using structured packing. Efficiency and capacity data is generated for each column and a comparision of the performance is presented.