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BiodieselPlant

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BiodieselPlants

BiodieselPlantsforUsedCookingOil,CornOil,JatrophaOil,CamelinaOil,FattyAcids,andotherAnimalFatsandVegetable
Oils
WhatisBiodiesel?
ThemostcommonformofBiodieselisaMethylEsterofFattyAcids.ItiscommonlycalledFattyAcidMethylEster(or
FAME).
WhyBiodiesel?
RefinedVegetableOilsandAnimalFatshavealmostthesameenergyvalueasbiodieselhencetheycanbeusedasfuelin
DieselEngines.However,therearetwomajorproblemswithusingOilsandFatsasFuel.First,theOils&Fatsarehighly
viscous.Moreover,theviscosityincreasesdramaticallyatlowertemperaturescausingflowissues.Second,theOils&Fats
haveahighermeltingpoint.Thisimpliesthattheycansolidifyatlowertemperaturescausingflowissues.ConvertingOils&
FatsintoFAME(Biodiesel)lowerstheviscosityaswellasmeltingpoint.Therearestilllimitstotheextenttowhichthemelting
pointcanbereducedbutBiodieselhasmoreutilitythanOils&Fatsasasourceoffuel.
WhatisBiodieselProducedfrom?
BiodieselcanbeproducedeitherfromFattyAcidsorOils.OilsarecommonlycalledTriGlyceridesorFattyAcidGylcerin
Esters(FAGE).
WhatisEsterification?
EsterificationinvolvesareactionofanAlcohol(suchasMethanol)withFattyAcids.ThereactionproducesFattyAcidMethyl
Esters.OnemoleculeofFattyAcidreactswithonemoleculeofMethanoltoproduceonemoleculeofFAME.Thebyproduct
ofthisreactionisonemoleculeofWater.TheEsterificationprocessrequiresanAcidCatalysttofacilitatethereaction.
WhatisTransEsterification?
TransEsterificationinvolvesareactionofanAlcohol(suchasMethanol)withOil.BecausebothOilandBiodieselbelongto
Esterfamily,theconversionofonetypeofEster(FAGE)toanothertypeofEster(FAME)iscalledTransEsterification.One
moleculeofOil(FAGE)reactswiththreemoleculeofMethanoltoproducethreemoleculesofFAME.Thebyproductofthis
reactionisonemoleculeofGlycerin.TheTransEsterificationprocessrequiresaBaseCatalysttofacilitatethereaction.
PreTreatment:
PreTreatmentistheprocessofeliminatingimpuritiesfromOilsandFatssothattheFAMEproducedfromsuchOilsandFatsis
alsofreeofsuchimpurities.Allfeedstock(i.e.,AnimalFatsandVegetableOils)haveimpuritiessuchaswater,solids,gums,
freefattyacids(FFA),waxes,andcompoundsofSodium,Potassium,Magnesium,Calcium,andothermetals.
PreTreatmentprocesscanbecustomdesignedtobefeedstockdependentorfeedstockindependent.Feedstockdependent
meanstheplantiscustomdesignedforaspecifictypeoffeedstock.Forexample,itcouldbedesignedforprocessing
ExtractedCornOil(XCO).Feedstockindependencecomesatahighercapitalcostbutallowstheplanttobemultifeedstock
ready.Suchaplantcanprocessdifferenttypesoffeedstockeventhoughsomefeedstockmaynotrequireeachprocessing
stepintheplant.

PreTreatmentOptions:
ThegoalofPreTreatmentistoreducetheimpuritiessuchaswater,solids,gums,FFA,andmetalliccompounds.The
TransEsterificationreadyfeedstockshouldtypicallymeetthefollowingspecifications:
Solids<0.1%
Water<0.1%
FFAPreferablylessthan0.1%(butnomorethan0.25%)
GumsPreferablylessthan10ppm(measuredasPhosphorus).

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ThefollowingfourPreTreatmentprocesses(orcombinationthereof)arepossibledependinguponthenatureofthe
impuritiesinthefeedstock:
a.Neutralizing
RefiningissuitableforvirginvegetableoilssuchasCanola,Camelina,Cottonseed,Rapeseed,SoybeanOilor
AnimalFats,whichhavelowFFA(lessthan3%).
b.FFAStripping(PhysicalRefining)
FFAstrippingissuitableforvirginoilssuchasCoconut,Jatropha,PalmOil,UsedCookingOil,orAnimalFats,which
havehighFFA(above3%).Ifinplace,thisprocessispreferredevenforlowerFFAoils.
c.Esterification
EsterificationissuitableforoilswhichhavemoderatelyhighorveryhighFFA(usuallyabove2%).
d.Glycerolysis
GlycerolyisissuitableforoilswhichhaveveryhighFFA(usuallyabove20%)
DegumminganddewaxingmayberequiredinadditiontotheabovementionedstepsiftheOilshavehigherlevelsofgums
andwaxes.
Thereareadvantagesanddisadvantagesofeachtypeofprocess.ThebiggestdisadvantageofEsterificationisthatitrequires
theuseofSulfuricAcidasacatalyst.Thisposeschallengeswithrespecttooperatorhazardandequipmentfailuredueto
corrosion.Althoughsuchchallengescanbeovercomewiththeuseofheterogenous(solid)catalysthowever,solidcatalysts
poseotherchallengesthatmayrequireadditionalinvestmentinPreTreatmentequipment.Anotherdisadvantageof
EsterificationisthattheamountofMethanolrequiredduringEsterificationisveryhighthusrequiringadditionalinvestmentin
methanolrecoveryandrectificationequipment.
ThemaindisadvantageofFFAstrippingisthatitremovestheFFAfromtheOilresultinginyieldloss.Althoughsuchlossisnot
acompletelossofyieldbecauseFFAcanbesoldtopartiallyrecoverthevalueofthefeedstock.AchallengeofFFAstripping
isthatitworksunderveryhightemperatureandvacuumthusrequiringadditionalinvestmentinheatingandvacuum
equipment.
TransEsterification
TransEsterificationinvolvestheconversionofOils(FAGE)toBiodiesel(FAME).Themostcommonlyusedprocessinvolvesa
continuoustwostagereactionwithMethanolinthepresenceofaBasecatalyst(typicallySodiumMethoxide).
EachreactionstageisfollowedbyseparationofBiodieselandGlycerin.Unfortunately,thetransesterificationprocess
producessoaps(saltsoffattyacids)thatremaininBiodieselandGlycerinphases.Itisimportanttonotethattheamountof
soapproducedisdirectlyproportionatetotheamountofFFAintheOil.Inordertoreducetheproductionofsoap,itiscritical
toremoveFFAfromtheOilsduringthePreTreatmentstep.AnotherimpurityinbothphasesisunusedMethanol.
Consequently,thebiodieselphasemustbewashedtoremovesoapsandmethanol.
AnimportantpointtonoteisthatSodiumMethoxideisahomogenous(liquid)catalystandhasatendencytoproducesoaps.
However,useofheterogenous(solid)catalystsresultsinmuchsmallerproductionofsoaps.Asaresult,thewashingofthe
biodieseliseasier.

BiodieselWash
Therearetwowaystowashbiodiesel:
a.DryWash:Onewaytoremovesoapsistopassbiodieselphasethroughabedofresins.Whilepracticedwidelyin
smallerplantsandsomelargerplants,thisprocessislessforgivingiftheamountofsoapinthebiodieselphaseishigh.
ThisconditionariseswhenthefeedstockisnotproperlypretreatedtoremoveFFA.Notethatthesoapsinthisprocess
arenotphysicallyseparatedfrombiodieseltheyarechemicallyconvertedtoFattyAcidsasresultoftheionicreaction
withtheresin.TheFattyAcidsstayinthebiodieselphaseafterthewash.BecausethereisalimittohowmuchFatty
Acidscanremaininthefinishedproduct,thisprocessshouldbeusedonlywhenthefeedstockisseriouslyPreTreated
toremoveFFA.Additionally,inlargerplants,itisoperationallyinconvenienttorefreshtheresinbedbecauseofintense
precautionandmanuallabornecessarytocompletethetask.
b.WaterWash:Technochempreferstousewatertowashsoapstoavoidbothproblemsidentifiedabove.Thewater
extractsthesoapsfromthebiodieselandseparateseasilyfrombiodieselbygravity.Thewateralsoremovesunused
MethanolfromtheBiodieselPhase.Technochemusescontinuouscountercurrentwashinginapackedcolumnthereby
reducingtimetowashbiodiesel.Theadvantageofthisprocessisthat(a)itremovesbothsoapsandmethanol(b)it
doesnotcreateFFA(c)doesnotrequirerefreshingofthebedand(d)itiscontinuous.Theonlydisadvantageisthat
thebiodieselneedstobedriedtoremovetracesofmoistureandmethanol.However,thereisnosavingofequipmentin
theDryWashcaseeitherbecausetheresinsdonotremovemethanolsothemethanolstillneedstoberemovedfrom
biodiesel.
PostTreatment
Washedanddriedbiodieselispracticallyafinishedproduct.However,therearecertainimpuritiesthatmaypreventpassing
ASTMspecs.PosttreatmenthastraditionallyinvolvedaSilicatreatmenttoremovetracesofsoapsandmetallicimpurities.
Inaddition,forsomefeedstocks,aWinterizationprocessisrequiredtoremovewaxes,highermeltingpointglycerides,
sterols,and/orderivativesofsterols.Thesestepsmaybeavoidedifthebiodieselissubjectedtodistillationasexplained
below.

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BiodieselBasics:
WhatisBiodiesel?
WhyBiodiesel?
WhatisBiodieselProducedfrom?
WhatisEsterification?
WhatisTransEsterification?
BiodieselProcess:
PreTreatment
TransEsterification
BiodieselWash
PostTreatment

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