Process Intensification In Biodiesel Production

This book is among the first to address the novel process intensification technologies for biodiesel production, in particular the integrated reactive separations. It provides a comprehensive overview illustrated with many industrially relevant examples of novel reactive separation processes used in the production of biodiesel (e.g. fatty acid alkyl esters): reactive distillation, reactive absorption, reactive extraction, membrane reactors, and centrifugal contact separators. Readers will also learn about the working principles, design and control of integrated processes, while also getting a relevant and modern overview of the process intensification opportunities for biodiesel synthesis. Biodiesel is a biodegradable and renewable fuel that currently enjoys much attention. In spite of the recent advances, the existing biodiesel processes still suffer from problems associated with the use of homogeneous catalysts (e.g. salt waste streams) and the key limitations imposed by the chemical reaction equilibrium, thus leading to severe economic and environmental penalties. The integration of reaction and separation into one operating unit overcomes equilibrium limitations and provides key benefits such as low capital investment and operating costs. Many of these processes can be further enhanced by heat-integration and powered by heterogeneous catalysts, to eliminate all conventional catalyst related operations, using the raw materials efficiently and the reaction volume, while offering high conversion and selectivity, and significant energy savings. The targeted audience of this book includes both academia (students and researchers) and industry (project leaders, technology managers, researchers, biodiesel producers, and equipment suppliers).

Intensified processes have found widespread application in the chemical and petrochemical industries. The use of intensified systems allows for a reduction of operating costs and supports the “greening” of chemical processes. However, the design of intensified equipment requires special methodologies. This book describes the fundamentals and applications of these design methods, making it a valuable resource for use in both industry and academia.

Process synthesis and process intensification are becoming state-of-the-art scientific fields that provide the methods and tools to improve process technologies in terms of high energy efficiency, low capital investment, low emissions, improved safety, and less hazardous byproducts to achieve sustainable products and processes. The book covers manufacturing processes from both fossil- and biomass-based feedstocks for graduate students.

Biodiesel is considered a means to diversify our supply of transportation fuel, addressing the goal of reducing our dependence on oil. Recent interest has resulted in biodiesel manufacture becoming more widely undertaken by commercial enterprises that are interested in minimizing the cost of feedstock materials and waste production, as well as maximizing the efficiency of production. Various means to accelerate batch processing have been investigated. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has experience in developing process intensification methods for nuclear separations, and this paper will discuss how technologies developed for very different applications have been modified for continuous reaction/separation of biodiesel. In collaboration with an industrial partner, this work addresses the aspect of base-catalyzed biodiesel production that limits it to a slow batch process. In particular, we have found that interfacial mass transfer and phase separation control the transesterification process and have developed a continuous two-phase reactor for online production of a methyl ester and glycerol. Enhancing the mass transfer has additional benefits such as being able to use an alcohol-to-oil phase ratio closer to stoichiometric than in conventional processing, hence minimizing the amount of solvent that has to be recycled and reducing post-processing clean up costs. Various technical issues associated with the application of process intensification technology will be discussed, including scale-up from the laboratory to a pilot-scale undertaking.

Process Intensification: Engineering for Efficiency, Sustainability and Flexibility is the first book to provide a practical working guide to understanding process intensification (PI) and developing successful PI solutions and applications in chemical process, civil, environmental, energy, pharmaceutical, biological, and biochemical systems. Process intensification is a chemical and process design approach that leads to substantially smaller, cleaner, safer, and more energy efficient process technology. It improves process flexibility, product quality, speed to market and inherent safety, with a reduced environmental footprint. This book represents a valuable resource for engineers working with leading-edge process technologies, and those involved research and development of chemical, process, environmental, pharmaceutical, and bioscience systems. No other reference covers both the technology and application of PI, addressing fundamentals, industry applications, and including a development and implementation guide Covers hot and high growth topics, including emission prevention, sustainable design, and pinch analysis World-class authors: Colin Ramshaw pioneered PI at ICI and is widely credited as the father of the technology

A comprehensive overview of current developments and applications in biofuels production Process Systems Engineering for Biofuels Development brings together the latest and most cutting-edge research on the production of biofuels. As the first book specifically devoted to process systems engineering for the production of biofuels, Process Systems Engineering for Biofuels Development covers theoretical, computational and experimental issues in biofuels process engineering. Written for researchers and postgraduate students working on biomass conversion and sustainable process design, as well as industrial practitioners and engineers involved in process design, modeling and optimization, this book is an indispensable guide to the newest developments in areas including: Enzyme-catalyzed biodiesel production Process analysis of biodiesel production (including kinetic modeling, simulation and optimization) The use of ultrasonification in biodiesel production Thermochemical processes for biomass transformation to biofuels Production of alternative biofuels In addition to the comprehensive overview of the subject of biofuels found in the Introduction of the book, the authors of various chapters have provided extensive discussions of the production and separation of biofuels via novel applications and techniques.

Renewable fuel research and process development requires interdisciplinary approaches involving chemists and physicists from both scientific and engineering backgrounds. Here is an important volume that emphasizes green chemistry and green engineering principles for sustainable process development from an interdisciplinary point of view. It creates an enriching knowledge base on green chemistry of biofuel production, sustainable process development, and green engineering principles for renewable fuel production. This book includes chapters contributed by both research scientists and research engineers with significant experience in biofuel chemistry and processes. The book offers an abundance of scientific experimental methods and analytical procedures and interpretation of the results that capture the state-of-the-art knowledge in this field. The wide range of topics make this book a valuable resource for academicians, researchers, industrial practitioners and scientists, and engineers in various renewable energy fields. Key features: • Emphasizes green chemistry and green engineering principles for sustainable process development for biofuel production • Discusses a wide array of biofuels from algal biomass to waste-to-energy technologies and wastewater treatment and activated sludge processes • Presents advances and developments in biofuel green chemistry and green engineering, including process intensification (microwaves/ultrasound), ionic liquids, and green catalysis • Looks at environmental assessment and economic impact of biofuel production