Effects of the Slow Dispersion of Viscous Methanol/Triglyceride Mixtures on Batch Biodiesel Fuel Formation Rates

Abstract

Slow dispersion at the agitation initiation period in a batch biodiesel fuel (BDF) production vessel was investigated. The emulsified amount of methanol was measured as a function of the agitation period, t. It was found that the weight fraction of the emulsified methanol in the triglyceride phase, w M , slowly increases with increasing t, as shown by0 )exp(-βt) using the weight fraction of emulsified methanol at the beginning of dispersion, w M 0 , and after complete dispersion, w M ∞ . The dispersion equation was combined with a conventional BDF formation rate model.