Among these processes, reactive distillation column (RDC) and catalytic distillation column (CDC) for homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyzed processes have been applied to develop more economical processes as well as increasing performance of equilibrium reactions as found in biodiesel production. As a result, the keyphrase has been “produce more with less being sustainable”, so that process intensification have received more attention. Reactive separation processes (RSP) have been widely studied, since companies have looked for ways to reduce costs, environment impacts and loss of energy. © 2006 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. The productivity of the RD reactor system was about 6.6 m 3 biodiesel per m 3 reactor volume per hour, which is 6 to 10 times higher than that of batch and existing continuous-flow processes. Total reaction time in the pre-reactor and RD column was about 3 min, which is 20 to 30 times shorter than in typical batch processes. Preliminary results showed that the RD reactor with a methanol:glyceride ratio of 4:1 (molar), in which the use of methanol was cut down by 66%, gave a satisfactory biodiesel yield and oil conversion rate at a column temperature of 65☌. Product parameters such as methyl ester content, glycerides, and methanol content were analyzed. The effect of the methanol:glyceride ratio was studied on a laboratory-scale perforated-tray RD reactor system. Reactant conversion rate and product yield were used as the criteria for the reactor evaluation. The goal was to significantly reduce the use of excess methanol while maintaining a high methanol:glyceride molar ratio inside the RD reactor by recycling a small amount of methanol within the system. In this study, a novel reactor system using reactive distillation (RD) was developed and investigated for biodiesel preparation from canola oil and methanol. This excess alcohol must be recovered in a separate process, which involves additional capital and operating costs. The production of biodiesel through batch and existing continuous-flow processes requires the use of a much higher excess alcohol, typically 100%, than the stoichiometric molar requirement in order to drive the transesterification reaction to completion.

Abdulkasem alchemistry distillation