Synthesis and refining of sunflower biodiesel in a cascade of continuous centrifugal contactor separators

Abstract

The synthesis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) from sunflower oil and methanol was studied in a continuous centrifugal contactor separator (CCCS) using sodium methoxide as the catalyst. The effect of relevant process variables like oil and methanol flow rate, rotational speed and catalyst concentration was investigated and modelled using non-linear regression. Good agreement between experiments and model were obtained. At optimised conditions (oil flow rate of 31 mL/min, rotational speed of 34 Hz, catalyst concentration of 1.2%w/w and a methanol flow rate of 10 mL/min), the FAME yield was 94 mol% at a productivity of 2470 kg FAME /m 3 reactor .h. Proof of principle for the synthesis and subsequent refining of FAME in a cascade of two CCCS devices was also obtained. Relevant properties of the refined FAME obtained using this technology were determined and were shown to meet the ASTM specifications.Practical application: Synthesis and refining of sunflower biodiesel was successfully performed in a cascade of two CSSS devices. Besides for large scale biodiesel production, this technology has particularly potential to be applied in small mobile biodiesel units due to the compact size, robustness, flexibility in operation, and high volumetric productivity of the CCCS devices.

Experimental and modelling studies on continuous synthesis and refining of biodiesel in a dedicated bench scale unit using centrifugal contactor separator technology

“…The sunflower oil was purchased from Deli XL (Reddy), the Netherlands. The fatty acid composition, acid value, water content and phosphorus content of the oil has been determined and is reported in . The oil was analysed by GC and shown to consist mainly of linoleic acid (57.4%), oleic acid (30.2%), palmitic acid (8.4%) and stearic acid (4.0%).…”

“…We have also modified the CCCS type CINV V02 to achieve a higher biodiesel volumetric production rate at a given FAME yield (2470 kg FAME /m3 reactor · h for 94 mol% yield). Proof of principle for the synthesis and subsequent refining of FAME in a cascade of two CCCS devices has also been demonstrated . Phase separation between the biodiesel and water in the crude biodiesel washing unit (a second CCCS) was excellent at low flow rates.…”

“…Recently, we have proposed a new reactor configuration for the continuous synthesis and refining of biodiesel. It involves the use of a continuous centrifugal contactor separator (CCCS), a device that integrates mixing, reaction and separation of liquid–liquid systems and as such is an interesting example of process intensification .…”

“…Cross‐sectional view of the CCCS (left) and a schematic representation of the CCCS set‐up for biodiesel synthesis (right) .…”

Experimental and Model Studies on Continuous Separation of 2‐Phenylpropionic Acid Enantiomers by Enantioselective Liquid–Liquid Extraction in Centrifugal Contactor Separators

“…Because of these advantages, CCS is very suitable for continuous separation of enantiomers by ELLE. CCS has been successfully used for the synthesis and refining of biodiesel, for separation of ionic liquid dispersions, for oil‐water separation, and for several other extraction processes . Although the separation of enantiomers by multistage ELLE in CCS has attracted increasing attention in recent years, studies on experimental and modeling of the multistage ELLE have been rarely reported …”