A CONTINUOUS-FLOW BIODIESEL PRODUCTION PROCESS USING

AN ULTRASONIC FLOW CELL REACTOR

S.Suresh Kumar1, Dr. Parag R. Gogate2
1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai-25.
2Department of Chemical Engineering, ICT Mumbai, Mumbai.

The continuous-flow transesterification of karanja oil with methanol using an Ultrasonic Flow
cell (UFC) for the production of fatty acid methyl esters (biodiesel) is presented in this project.
The UFC, which provides high ultrasonic force and has an adjustable frequency, is employed as
a novel transesterification reactor. In this study, biodiesel is synthesized via the methanolysis of
karanja oil using potassium methoxide as the catalyst. The following variables were investigated
for their effects on transesterification efficiency: the methanol–oil molar ratio, the estimated
hydraulic retention time, reaction temperature, and the catalyst dosage. The yield of the fatty acid
methyl esters (YFAME) in the UFC system depends significantly on the experimental
conditions, which influence the residence time distribution, the transesterification reaction rate,
and the micromixing intensity. Due to its excellent micromixing characteristics, the UFC system
shows satisfactory transesterification efficiency. The values of YFAME, productivity of FAMEs
(PFAME) are used to evaluate the performance for biodiesel production and allow for further
comparison with other continuous transesterification reactors. Consequently, an UFC is
considered a practical transesterification reactor with high transesterification efficiency.