Process Systems Engineering for Biofuels Development

9Process Analysis of Biodiesel Production – Kinetic Modeling, Simulation, and Process Design

Bruna Ricetti Margarida, Wanderson Rogerio Giacomin‐Junior, Luiz Fernando de Lima Luz Junior, Fernando Augusto Pedersen Voll, and Marcos Lucio Corazza

Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Paraná, Polytechnic Center (DEQ/UFPR), Curitiba 81531‐980, Brazil

9.1 Introduction

Biodiesel is a biofuel produced from alkyl esters of long‐chain carboxylic acids that can be obtained from vegetable oils or animal fat. Different routes have been studied and developed to produce biodiesel from waste oils, reducing raw material costs and contributing to the generation of biodiesel without the use of edible oils. Since fuels like gasoline and diesel are derived from petroleum, there are uncertainties about their market in the future and resource availability. Biodiesel, in turn, can be obtained from renewable resources, which might contribute to its market stability and it can be considered environmentally friendly compared with petroleum‐based fuels. According to ANP (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis – the Brazilian agency for fuels and biofuels regulation), biodiesel should have at least 96.5% (mass) of ester content, a total glycerol mass content up to 0.25%, and maximum water content of 200 ppm.

Different possible routes have been proposed for producing biodiesel, as homogeneous‐ and heterogeneous‐based reactions, enzyme‐catalyzed reaction, and supercritical ...