Biodiesel Production

1. Biodiesel Production • Transesterification of natural oils yields lower molecular weight esters of appropriate viscosity for fuel applications. • Triglyceride transesterification with methanol can be acid or base catalyzed. • Free fatty acids within some feedstocks can only be esterified under acidic conditions. • Carboxylate salts create foaming problems, and adversely affect product viscosities

2. Biodiesel Production • The Biox plant in Hamilton, Ontario has a nameplate capacity of 67 million litres per year for converting a wide range of feedstocks into clear, acid-free biodiesel.

3. Biodiesel Production • Patented U of T process uses THF to yield a miscible, homogeneous catalytic process. • FFA’s in the feedstock are esterified under acidic conditions, then the whole mixture is transesterified under more efficient base catalysis. • Equilibrium is driven by excess methanol, and the phase-separation of glycerol from the reaction mixture

4. Acid-catalyzed fatty acid esterification: Design Exercise 1 • Derive rate equations from this mechanism that express the rate of reagent consumption and product(s) formation as a function of measurable process variables. • Include expressions for the instantaneous concentration of intermediates as a function of measurable process variables.

5. Acid-catalyzed fatty acid esterification: Design Exercise 1 • Derive rate equations from this mechanism that express the rate of reagent consumption and product(s) formation as a function of measurable process variables. • Include expressions for the instantaneous concentration of intermediates as a function of measurable process variables.