Production of biodiesel fuel from tall oil fatty acids via high temperature methanol reaction
► Free fatty acids to biodiesel at high temperature is performed below critical point. ► Modeling of tall oil biodiesel fits autocatalytic and Arrenhius mechanisms. ► Autocatalytic reaction allows for low methanol to free fatty acid ratios. Tall oil fatty acids are a byproduct of the paper industry...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 90; no. 11; pp. 3193 - 3199 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Kidlington
Elsevier Ltd
01-11-2011
Elsevier |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | ► Free fatty acids to biodiesel at high temperature is performed below critical point. ► Modeling of tall oil biodiesel fits autocatalytic and Arrenhius mechanisms. ► Autocatalytic reaction allows for low methanol to free fatty acid ratios.
Tall oil fatty acids are a byproduct of the paper industry and consist predominantly of free-fatty acids (FFAs). Although this feedstock is ideal for biodiesel production, there has been relatively little study of its conversion to biodiesel. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the high temperature reaction of methanol with tall oil at subcritical and supercritical pressures to produce fatty acid methyl esters. This study investigates the effects of mixing, pressure, temperature, and methanol to oil molecular ratio in order to determine the potential use of tall oil as a biodiesel feedstock. In this work, tall oil fatty acids were successfully reacted with supercritical and subcritical methanol in a continuous tubular reactor, resulting in a reaction that is primarily temperature dependent. Conversions at subcritical pressures of 4.2MPa and 6.6MPa were 81% and 75%, respectively. Pressure seemed to have little correlation to conversion in both regimes, and conversions were comparable between the two. Additionally, it was found that tall oil fatty acids react well with methanol to give comparable conversions at the relatively low molecular flow ratio of 5:1 methanol to tall oil. Both of these observations suggest that hydrolyzed triglycerides or free fatty acid feedstocks would make the primary high temperature biodiesel reaction and the subsequent separation and purification operations less expensive than was previously believed. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0016-2361 1873-7153 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.fuel.2011.06.017 |