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

生物柴油是一种替代燃料，来源于植物油和动物脂等可再生的国内资源。它是更清洁的燃烧，减少废气排放，并且由于其可再生的生物来源，对大气二氧化碳（温室气体）的贡献较少。此外，生物柴油是可生物降解和无毒的，使其适合在敏感环境中的运输应用。不幸的是，生物柴油原料（初榨植物油）的高成本是其大规模商业化的主要障碍。此外，用初榨石油生产生物柴油会对环境和社会产生影响，因为它与全球粮食生产竞争。另一方面，废食用油可以使生物柴油生产摆脱这一问题。采用传统的生物柴油生产方法，废食用油由于其高水分和游离脂肪酸含量而需要大量的预处理。然而，超临界甲醇方法已被证明耐受原料中的水和游离脂肪酸。我们提出了研究超临界甲醇反应与废食用油在流动管式反应器连续操作。此外，我们建议将超临界反应器与CANMET水力旋流器集成以分离产物，即，生物柴油和甘油。这种与管式反应器相结合的成本和能量有效的分离方法有望将废物流转化为可再生能源。在加拿大的冬季，特别令人关注的是从废物中提取的生物柴油的冷流特性差

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 waste