(700b) Modeling and Experimental Validation of Free Fatty Acids (FFAs) Removal From Crude Vegetable Oils Using Fiber Reactor Technology

Modeling and experimental validation of Free Fatty Acids (FFAs)
removal from crude vegetable oils using fiber reactor technology

A
combination of experimental measurements, reactor modeling, and model
validation is used to develop a highly efficient approach for removal of free
fatty acids (FFA) from vegetable oils.  The process revolves around a new
reactor concept called the Fiber Reactor?, which is a novel contactor for
conducting reactions involving two partially miscible liquid phases that offers
from one to two orders-of-magnitude improvement in liquid-liquid mass transfer
rates when compared to conventional reactors, such as stirred tanks. The
primary objective of this presentation is to describe recent research results
that provide further understanding of Fiber Reactor? performance by
investigating intricacies of the engineering technology for application to FFA
extraction. Emphasis is placed on comparing the
effectiveness of reactive and non-reactive extraction technologies for removal
of FFA's from crude vegetable oil by comparing observed mass transfer
coefficients, acid removal efficiency and overall cost of operation. Fiber
Reactor? parameters of interest include: fluid pressure drop, fluid flow
patterns, fluid flow regimes, liquid-fiber interfacial areas, mass transfer
coefficients, heat transfer coefficients, and fiber particulars (material of
construction, layout, size, geometry, and surface/wetting properties). Validation
of the model-predicted results is also provided using experimental data
generated using fiber reactor having diameters of ¼-in and ½-in, respectively.

Figure 1. Schematic of the Fiber
reactor

Figure 2. Process flow diagram of
a typical experimental setup for transesterification of lipids.