Process Intensification Technologies For 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).

The successful implementation of greener chemical processes relies not only on the development of more efficient catalysts for synthetic chemistry but also, and as importantly, on the development of reactor and separation technologies which can deliver enhanced processing performance in a safe, cost-effective and energy efficient manner. Process intensification has emerged as a promising field which can effectively tackle the challenges of significant process enhancement, whilst also offering the potential to diminish the environmental impact presented by the chemical industry. Following an introduction to process intensification and the principles of green chemistry, this book presents a number of intensified technologies which have been researched and developed, including case studies to illustrate their application to green chemical processes. Topics covered include: • Intensified reactor technologies: spinning disc reactors, microreactors, monolith reactors, oscillatory flow reactors, cavitational reactors • Combined reactor/separator systems: membrane reactors, reactive distillation, reactive extraction, reactive absorption • Membrane separations for green chemistry • Industry relevance of process intensification, including economics and environmental impact, opportunities for energy saving, and practical considerations for industrial implementation. Process Intensification for Green Chemistry is a valuable resource for practising engineers and chemists alike who are interested in applying intensified reactor and/or separator systems in a range of industries to achieve green chemistry principles.

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

In recent years bioprocessing has increased in popularity and importance, however, bioprocessing still poses various important techno-economic and environmental challenges, such as product yields, excessive energy consumption for separations in highly watery systems, batch operation or the downstream processing bottlenecks in the production of biopharmaceutical products. Many of those challenges can be addressed by application of different process intensification technologies discussed in the present book. The first book dedicated entirely to this area, Intensification of Biobased Processes provides a comprehensive overview of modern process intensification technologies used in bioprocessing. The book focusses on four different categories of biobased products: bio-fuels and platform chemicals; cosmeceuticals; food products; and polymers and advanced materials. It will cover various intensification aspects of the processes concerned, including (bio)reactor intensification; intensification of separation, recovery and formulation operations; and process integration. This is an invaluable source of information for researchers and industrialists working in chemical engineering, biotechnology and process engineering.

Biofuels and Biorefining: Volume Two: Intensified Processes and Biorefineries considers intensification and optimization processes for biofuels and biomass-derived products in single and biorefinery schemes. Chapters cover production processes for liquid biofuels, introducing all feasible intensification alternatives for each process, process intensification methods for the production of value-added products, the importance of detailed CFD-based studies, controllability studies, strategies for risk analysis in intensified processes, the concept of biorefinery for the co-production of biofuels/biomass derived value-added products, and the importance of process intensification in the biorefinery scheme. Final chapters discuss how to ensure the sustainability of the intensified process and minimize the societal impact of biorefineries through various strategies, including supply chain optimization and lifecycle analysis. Each chapter is supported by industry case studies that address key aspects and impacts of intensification and optimization processes. Integrates basic concepts of process intensification and its application to the production of biofuels in a single resource Includes case studies related to modeling, safety, control, supply chain, lifecycle analysis, and the CFD of biofuel production processes Provides a sustainability assessment of biorefinery systems from a lifecycle perspective

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.

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.