Computer Simulation of Fatty Acid Esterification in Reactive Distillation Columns

This work presents computational steady-state simulations of fatty acid esters (biodiesel) production in a reactive distillation column. Reaction rates were considered explicitly in the model of each stage. The procedures and formulation used here were initially validated by comparison of simulation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & engineering chemistry research 2011-09, Vol.50 (17), p.10176-10184
Main Authors: Machado, Guilherme Duenhas, Aranda, Donato A. G, Castier, Marcelo, Cabral, Vladimir Ferreira, Cardozo-Filho, Lúcio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Biodiesel
Chemical engineering
Computer simulation
Conversion
Distillation
Esters
Exact sciences and technology
Fatty acids
Industrial engineering
Sensitivity analysis
Separations
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Summary:This work presents computational steady-state simulations of fatty acid esters (biodiesel) production in a reactive distillation column. Reaction rates were considered explicitly in the model of each stage. The procedures and formulation used here were initially validated by comparison of simulations results obtained in this work with data available in the literature. Two new cases for fatty acid esters (biodiesel) production are simulated. In both of them, conversions close to 99% are possible with the proper choice of operating conditions, as shown by sensitivity analyses. The simulations results obtained here can be useful for the proper design of processes that use reactive distillation columns for biodiesel production.
ISSN:0888-5885
1520-5045
DOI:10.1021/ie102327y