Abstract

EVANGELISTA-FLORES, A. et al. Design of a continuous process of biodiesel production. Rev. Mex. Ing. Quím [online]. 2014, vol.13, n.2, pp.483-491. ISSN 1665-2738.

Most of the industrial processes used for biodiesel production in the world are performed in batch or semicontinuous reactors coupled to separation equipment to obtain by-products, however, a disadvantage of these processes is the downtime as well as the cost of loading and unloading. The aim of this paper is to propose a continuous process for biodiesel production using a continuous flow tubular reactor (CFTR) using vegetable oil, methanol and a alkaline catalyst, whose application will reduce operating costs, maintenance and production time. Tests were conducted inside an industrial reactor's heating coil to obtain the reaction kinetics and to evaluate the equipment' s energy transfer with different heating fluids. The design parameters were considered to obtain a biodiesel production of 500 tons per month in a continuous flow tubular reactor with nonlinear geometry, a conversion in one step greater than 99%, temperatures between 60 and 75 ° C, with recovery of methanol and obtaining glycerin as a commercial by-product.

Keywords : biodiesel; continuous reactor; alkaline catalysis; industrial process; vegetable oil.

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