(693f) Process Simulation and Analysis to Study Yield Conversion of Vegetable Oil to Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a sustainable biofuel due to its reduced emissions of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides and methane compared with derived fossil fuel. Biodiesel is commonly synthesized from the transesterification of vegetable oils using basic and acid homogeneous catalysts, a reaction which takes place in four steps to produce a mixture of fatty esters and glycerin. There are different works researching about using different precursors, catalysts, equipment as well as the conditions of the process to improve the biodiesel production. In this sense this paper reports the modeling of a reactor to carry out the study of the esterification and transesterification reactions that influence the biodiesel yield. This study was carried out using computational fluid dynamics where residence times, reactor geometry and feed rates are considered and it was found feed rates and reactor temperature increase considerable biodiesel yield.