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MagtechA biodiesel processing plant is essential for producing biodiesel. Biodiesel serves as a renewable alternative to petroleum-based High-Speed Diesel (HSD) for use as fuel in cars.
Fat from vegetable and animal sources exists in the form of triglyceride, which is one form of ester. Triglyceride has a comparable calorific value. However, it is not suitable for direct use as motor fuel due to its higher viscosity, poor combustion, and cold flow properties. Alteration of its molecular structure. In the biodiesel processing plant, we call it Transesterification, of such fat. It came up as the only solution to unleash its goodness other than human consumption. Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME), the scientific name of Biodiesel, is the substance that is achieved by the process of such Transesterification.
Various chemical processes are practiced worldwide to make the process happen-
- Heterogeneous Base Catalytic Transesterification.
- Heterogeneous Acid Catalytic Transesterification.
- Homogeneous Base Catalytic Transesterification.
- Homogeneous Acid Catalytic Transesterification.
- Enzymatic Transesterification.
This nomenclature is based on the type of catalyst used in the chemical reaction process adopted. Amongst them, Homogeneous Base Catalytic Transesterification has several advantages. It wins the fight and emerges as the industry standard. With respect to reaction time and temperature, it outperforms the other methods. Most importantly, it offers significant economic advantages.
[To have in-depth knowledge about Tranestarification for biodiesel you can visit our Blog Section.]
Now, we have made significant progress in selecting a suitable reaction process. However, our quest does not end here. In a Biodiesel plant, an industrial chemical process, the production of the final product involves numerous unit processes and unit operations.
These steps shape the product with the desired quality and maintain process economy. Three areas where engineering and optimization can be performed are:
Preprocessing of Feed
It is often underrated but has a great influence over the processes forward. At the same time, the type and quality of feed dictate the design of the preprocessing unit. Feed with low FFA content (<3%) gets by only with screener and homogenizer assembly as no unit process happens at this stage. This operation aims at rendering the best possible homogeneous feed without any particulate impurity fit for Transesterification.
Conversely, Feeds with high FFA content (>3%) are not fit for direct Transesterification to be parsed through, as the containing FFA begets soap, the most undesirable outcome, affecting the reaction stoichiometry adversely to result in incomplete Transesterification. Now, we have come this far in choosing the most suitable reaction process. Here are two choices: Get rid of the FFA content and bring down its concentration below the permissible limit. Transform the FFA into triglyceride (one form of ester). Now, the feed is ready for the next step.
Backed by decade-long research data, we have mastered the science of designing the preprocessing unit that suits the feed available in your locality. Ours is a unit that personifies engineering excellence in terms of both space and cost optimization without compromising on the quality of output. As one of the leading biodiesel plant manufacturers, we work on the principle called co-creation, in which we continuously collect operational data from existing plants and then implement meaningful fine-tuning in the next product we release based on that data processing.
Transesterification
The core of the whole process line happens inside a vessel called the reactor, which plays the most important role in FAME production, be it its quality, quantity, or cost optimization. Without exception, we also adopt the same type of Transesterification technology, i.e., Homogeneous Base Catalytic Transesterification, to run our modular batch reactor, which exemplifies our specialization in designing one of the finest reactors available across the industry. For the days of toiling, our primary focus used to be obtaining the highest-ever possible reaction conversion along with the lowest residence time, which we eventually achieved to stay extremely relevant to the industry.
Another useful aspect of such optimization is observed in the next process of washing and refining going forward. The design of the reactor defines the challenges we are going to put on the next step, be it the extent of atomization of glycerol, soap, water formation, and most importantly, the undesirable intermediate products, such as mono/dy/tri-glyceride content in the Biodiesel. Now, the effort put into crafting such an engineered reactor started making sense
Washing and Refining
It is paradoxical why most of us don’t pay equitable heed to this section because this section holds the key to enhancing the look & feel and the acceptability to different standards (BIS, ASTM, EN, etc.), no matter what kind of Biodiesel the reactor spits out. What we get from the outlet of the reactor is crude Biodiesel, a mixture of FAME, Glycerol, and loads of undesirable other impurities. An equipped biodiesel plant in India makes sure that the technology is capable of refining the crude Biodiesel and making it industry-ready.
Crude Biodiesel has to be parsed through several unit processes and operations to make the final output FAME be accepted as the standard B100.
