Investigation on continuous FAME production using rotor reactor with bumpy number variation under theoretical methanol to oil molar ratio condition

Abstract

Continuous methyl ester production process from waste cooking oil (WCO) was studied by using a transesterification process at room temperature. The aim of this research was to investigate the optimized production conditions and specific energy consumption (SEW*h/kg of neat biodiesel) of the bumpy surface rotor reactor. There are 6.9%, 13.8%, and 27.6% of area fractions (AF) respectively. The reaction was under the condition being theoretical methanol to oil molar ratio and the reactor volume was 0.5L. At 2,000-4,000rpm of rotor speed, 1.0-1.5%w/w of KOH and 1.132-5.110L/min of precursor flow rate are used. It was found that the highest FAME content (fatty acid methyl ester in neat biodiesel, %) being 98.6%. It was achieved by using AF 27.6% rotor reactor under experimental conditions including 3,000rpm, 1.50%w/w of KOH and 2.027L/min of precursor flow rate. In addition, this condition gave SEC of 12.5W*h/kg. It was lower than that of orifice hydrodynamic cavitation reactor, power ultrasonic reactor, and mechanical stirring reactor around 93.2%, 95.0%, and 97.5% respectively. The properties of produced FAME met both EN 14214 and ASTM D 6751 standards.

Optimization of Continuous FAME Production in High-Performance Bumpy Surface Rotor Reactor under Theoretical Molar Ratio by Response Surface Methodology

“…Flow rates in the range of 1.132-4.128 L/min increased the FAME content above 96.5％, but decreased to 5.110 L/min. The appropriate flow rate of 2.027 L/min responded to maximal FAME content with interesting flow rates in the range of 2.027-3.000 L/min 14) . The optimal A F 27.6％ was chosen with a flow rate of 3.000 L/min for zero code.…”

“…In the first step, the speed was set to 3000 rpm and ［KOH］ was 1.00 wt％. The experiment is composed of 3 parts, investigated using rotors with A F 6.9, 13.8 and 27.6％, which affect the FAME content at flow rates of 1.132, 2.027, 3.000, 4.128 and 5.110 L/min 14) . The rotor with the optimum A F was selected.…”

“…The predicted optimal condition was used to explore the SEC by recording the energy consumption and mass of neat biodiesel 14) . The SEC was calculated by equation (9) as follows:…”

“…It was developed using a one-step transesterification process. Thaiyasuit et al 14) studied the development of HC-assisted BSRR for high-speed rotation using WCO with low FFA to produce biodiesel. The mechanism by which the device generates HC is by increasing the rotor speed so as to increase the dynamic pressure and reduce the static pressure below the vapor pressure over the surface.…”

“…This aim of this study was to optimize the production conditions of biodiesel produced by BSRR 14) investigating the SEC using the RSM model equation and predicting the setup conditions. One of the 3-type rotors with appropriate A F was selected as the most efficient rotor to investigate the effects of the independent variables on FAME purity at a 3:1 methanol-oil ratio.…”