Development of the mathematic model through design process kinetic and process simulation of propionic acid production from glycerol derivates of biodiesel

D. G. Coêlho, B. H. Lunelli, R. Maciel Filho

Laboratory of Optimization, Design and Advanced Control, Department of Chemical Process, School of Chemical Engineering, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil, PO. Box 6066, ZIP 13083-970, phone: 55+19+3521-3971 dayanagusmao@yahoo.com.br

There is a large incentive for the production of propionic acid through biotechnological process especially when environmentally friend and lower cost process are desired. Taking this into consideration the use of glycerol. a by-product from biodiesel, seems to be very suitable since there exist a large amount of the material at very lower cost. In order to take decisions on the whole process development it is very helpful to have a good mathematical model of the process, including the kinetic terms.  Bearing this in mind, in this work is proposed a deterministic mathematical model of the fermentation process for a bath reactor, taking into account the mass and energy balances. A kinetic model of the process is proposed and the parameters are identified through the experimental data. The kinetic model takes into account the inhibition terms.  It is shown that it is possible to have suitable process conditions so that high conversions are achieved.  The results show that it is possible to play with process variables trough the simulation model so that a competitive green via to produce propionic acid by fermentation of glycerol can be proposed.

Keywords: glycerol, propionic acid, green via, process simulation.