Cost minimization in a non-catalytic biodiesel production plant

In the present study, we propose an optimization model for the minimization of capital and operating costs in a supercritical methanol biodiesel plant, considering alternative process schemes together with the convenience or not to use a cosolvent in the chemical reaction. A rigorous process simulat...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Espinosa, Susana, Díaz, María Soledad, Brignole, Esteban Alberto
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2009
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/62385
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/62385
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Biodiesel
Optimization
Supercritical
Transesterification
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.4
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2
Description
Summary:In the present study, we propose an optimization model for the minimization of capital and operating costs in a supercritical methanol biodiesel plant, considering alternative process schemes together with the convenience or not to use a cosolvent in the chemical reaction. A rigorous process simulation model, based on a group contribution equation of state is integrated with a successive quadratic programming algorithm to solve the nonlinear problem. Optimization results show that noncatalytic biodiesel production with supercritical methanol can be economically competitive with conventional catalyzed production. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.