A Continuous Biodiesel Production Process Using a Chaotic Mixer-Reactor
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ORIGINAL PAPER
A Continuous Biodiesel Production Process Using a Chaotic Mixer‑Reactor A. L. Boukhalkhal2 · M. E. A. Kadi1,3 · Y. Lasbet2 · K. Loubar1 · S. Awad1 · M. Makhlouf4 · M. Tazerout1 Received: 31 May 2019 / Accepted: 11 November 2019 © Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract A new transesterification reactor, operating in continuous mode, has been designed, made and tested experimentally in order to produce a biodiesel from rapeseed oil. This reactor is an alternative solution to the batch system existing in the industry. It is composed of three-dimensional serpentine geometry (S-3D). The flow in this geometry is laminar, Reynolds number is less than 360. However the particle trajectories are completely erratic due to the geometry perturbations. This type of flow is called chaotic flow. The reactor ensures the mixing of reagents by the effects of inertia of the movement created in the flow by the chaotic advection. The experiments were conducted with a methanol / oil molar ratio of 6:1 and a KOH concentration of 1 wt%. Four oil mass flow rates were tested (1, 2, 3 and 4 g/s) in combination with four temperature levels (40, 50, 60 and 70 °C). The results show a very high conversion of oil to biodiesel. The physical and chemical properties of biodiesel such as viscosity, flash point, and cetane number comply with the international standards (ASTM D6751 and EN 14214). In addition, despite its compactness, the reactor is capable of continuously producing 13.5 kg/h of biodiesel thanks to the use of a chaotic mixer-reactor. The reaction time was reduced from 2 h in the batch system to 6 min. Graphic Abstract
Keywords Biodiesel · Transesterification · Chaotic advection · Continuous reactor
* A. L. Boukhalkhal [email protected] 1
GEPEA, UMR 6144 DSEE, IMT Atlantique, 44307 Nantes, France
2
LDMM, University of Djelfa, 17000 Djelfa, Algeria
3
LGP, Ecole Militaire Polytechnique, 16046 Bordj El Bahri, Algeria
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Djillali Liabes University, 22000 Sidi Bel Abbes, Algeria
Statement of Novelty The production of biodiesel in the industry is mostly carried out in mechanically stirred batch reactors. Moreover, the batch system requires a very important mixing time (with external mixer devices), ranging from 60 to 120 min, to achieve a high conversion of vegetable oils into biodiesel, and the amount of biodiesel produced is limited by the size of the reactor. For these reasons, a continuous biodiesel
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production process has been developed. It is based on a chaotic reactor. The lab scale reactor is able to produce continuously 13.5 kg/h with high conversion efficiency of biodiesel.
Introduction The majority of global energy needs are provided by fossil fuels (petrochemical sources, coal and natural gas). They are limited and non-renewable sources. These fuels are in great demand as a source of energy for industrial and daily use. The continuous use of these fossil fuels generates serious problems of air pollution and causes the emission and acc
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