9-28: Biodiesel production from integration between reaction and separation system: reactive distillation process

The purpose of the present work is to develop an efficiency process using reactive distillation columns applied to biodiesel production. Reactive distillation is the simultaneous implementation of reaction and separation within a single unit of column. This combined operation is especially suited for the chemical reaction limited by equilibrium constraints, since one or more of the products of the reaction are continuously separated from the reactants. This work presents the biodiesel production from castor oil and bioethanol by reactive distillation. Different variables affect the conventional biodiesel production process such as: catalyst concentration, reaction temperature, level of agitation, alcohol: vegetable oil molar ratio, reaction time, raw material type. In this study, the experimental design was used to optimize the following process variables: the catalyst concentration (0.5 %wt to 1.5%wt), the castor oil : ethanol molar ratio (3:1 to 6:1), the reactive column reflux  ratio (0.5 to 3.5), and the ration time (1 to 5 minutes). The results showed many advantages of the integration processas compared with the conventional biodiesel production such: decrease of the energy requirements, ethanol excess, reaction time, equipments units.