Biodiesel production from waste vegetable oil using a supercritical reactor and hydrocyclone separator

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel, derived from renewable, domestic resources such as vegetable oil and animal tallow. It is cleaner burning with reduced exhaust emissions and due to its renewable biological source, contributes less to atmospheric carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas). Additionally, biodiesel is biodegradable and non-toxic, making it suitable for transportation applications in sensitive environments. Unfortunately, the high cost of biodiesel feedstock (virgin vegetable oil) is a major impediment to its large-scale commercialization. Furthermore, there are environmental and social implications of producing biodiesel from virgin oil as it competes with the global production of food. Waste cooking oil, on the other hand, could free biodiesel production of this problem. With traditional biodiesel production methods, waste cooking oil requires extensive pre-treatment due to its high water and free fatty acid content. However, the supercritical methanol method has been shown to tolerate water and free fatty acids in the feedstock. We propose to examine the supercritical methanol reaction with waste cooking oil in a flow tube reactor for continuous operation. Furthermore, we propose the integration of the supercritical reactor with the CANMET hydrocyclone to separate the products, i.e., biodiesel and glycerol. This cost and energy efficient method of separation combined with the tubular reactor holds promise for the conversion of a waste stream into a renewable energy source. Of particular concern during the Canadian winter is the poor cold flow properties of biodiesel derived from wastecooking oil. Investigation into this property will also be conducted.