화학공학소재연구정보센터
Chemical Engineering & Technology, Vol.39, No.12, 2416-2426, 2016
Simulation of a Palm Fatty Acid Distillate-Based Biodiesel Plant Using Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysts
A continuous biodiesel production process from palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) is simulated in Aspen Plus for process engineering aspects emphasizing the critical points in the entire process. The production process involves acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of residual glycerides of PFAD to additional free fatty acids (FFAs), followed by esterification of the FFAs with methanol for methyl ester production, biodiesel purification, and finally methanol recovery. A two-phase kinetic model was employed with detailed operating conditions for both, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts to design the reactors and critical process units. The operating costs of the process using both catalysts are evaluated.