PROBLEM STATEMENT

What type of reactor could be used to produce biodiesel in a pilot scale of at least 50L with high
conversion and low cost?

INTRODUCTION

From the task given, the type of reactor could be used is simple batch reactor. This reactor is feed
via holes on top of the tank. While reaction is carried out, nothing else is put in or taken out until
the reaction is done. The tank is easily heated or cooled by jacket. There is three types of phases
can do reaction in this batch reactor. It is gas phase, liquid phase and liquid-solid phase but
commonly used for liquid phase reaction. Batch reactor is widely use in small scale of
production, use in pharmaceutical and also fermentation. This batch reactor has high conversion
per unit volume for one pass. Then, the batch reactor has simple construction than the other types
of reactor and it is also easy to operate. The batch reactor has flexibility of operation, which
means that same reactor can produce one product one time and a different product the next. The
most important thing with this reactor is easy to clean. So that there is no high risk of
contamination of the reactor if constantly clean it. (Refer appendix 1)

From this reactor, we are using Jatropha oil that comes from the shrub Jatrophacurcas L.
belonging to Euphorbiaceae family(Chhetri et al., 2008), also known as physic nut. This plant is
native to Mexico, Central America, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay and India (Achten, 2008).

Reason to use vegetable oil for transesterification to produce biodiesel becauseof high
conversion can be made. For example, active researches on biodiesel production from cottonseed
oil (Demirbas, 2008), which obtained by enzyme catalyzed transesterification with conversion of
between 72% and 94%.(Refer appendix 2)

Biodiesel is an environmentally friend renewable diesel fuel alternative (Attia et al., 2008). In
recent years, it has received attention because of its biodegradability, renewability, non-toxicity,
less emission of gaseous and particulate pollutants with higher cetane number than normal diesel.
Due to all this reasons it has shown in increasing huge demands of world energy which is
dependent on petroleum based fuel resources (Pathak et al., 2016).
THEORY/ CONCEPT

Pilot scale can be defined as the scale when a plant began a bulk processing in order to get clear
mineral values. Pilot production is the production line set up usually during engineering or
manufacturing development, to test new methods, processes and systems.

Jatropha plant is a drought-resistant perennial, growing rather quickly and lives in the marginal
or even infertile soil. In the range of two to five years, oil can be extracted from the Jatropha nuts
which yield from 0.5 to 12 tons annually. Each Jatropha seed consists about 30-40 weight % of
oil. Because of the high yield of the Jatropha oil, it can be combusted and converted into
biodiesel fuel through transesterification process.

The extraction of oil as a feedstock in biodiesel production can be done in several ways. Before
the extraction process begin, the seeds have to be dried in an oven at 105℃ or under the sun for
three weeks. The most common method used is by pressing the oil out of the seeds in a screw
press. Engine driven presses can extract about 75-80% on a single pass and as high as 89-91% if
precooked and subjected to two passes.

Biodiesel is known as a renewable biofuel which acts as an alternative to petroleum-based diesel

fuels. Biodiesel production by the transesterification reaction is carried out in the presence of
either chemical or enzymatic catalysts. Compared to the chemical, enzymatic reaction is
preferable because of production of high quality biodiesel, mild reaction conditions and also
environmental friendly.

In the enzymatic reaction, enzymes are able to convert high free fatty acid (FFA) feedstock in
two steps. When using high-FFA feedstock, it will be the hydrolysis step where glycerides are
first hydrolysed to FFA, and then the FFA and methanol are esterified using enzyme to produce
fatty acid methyl esters (FAME). In the esterification step, water which is necessary in the
activation of the enzyme is produced and absorbed into the heavy phase, which also consists of
glycerol, excess methanol and enzymes. (Refer appendix 3)

In order to maintain the efficiency of biodiesel production, the transesterification reactions need
to take place in a tubular reactor that operates and maintain at higher temperature, and an also the
remaining unconverted alcohol should be recovered in a flash tank installed on the exit of the
reactors. High reaction rate from the interfacial surface area enables the reaction to be carried out
in a much smaller and low cost reactor which could give out higher conversion.

PROBLEM SOLVING

Batch reactor

From the task that was given to us, we decided to choose the batch reactor.(Refer appendix 4)
This is because, with this reactor we can produce high percentage of the production of biodiesel
from Jatropha oil by using enzymatic method in pilot scale with very low cost. The chemical
reaction of the production of biodiesel will takes place inside the reactor. This batch reactor
already comes with the stirrer inside it.

At the beginning of the process, the reactants which is Jatropha oil, methanol and enzymatic
catalyst will be filled up into reactor tank. When the tank already filled, the stirrer acts until
required time. After that the contents inside the reactor tank will be drained and processed.Main
feature of batch reactor is it begins the process with reactive substances and then leave the
processed materials. Actually, the mixed component will left the reactor and goes to the water
washing tanks that were built separately. When using the reactor, the mixing time should not be
too much because it may leads to degradation of product and produce unwanted materials.
Heating system will be used to heat the liquid and maintain the temperature to keep it constant.

Sedimentation method will be used in this method to removes water. For this method, the oil was
heated to 60°C and the temperature remains the same for 15 minutes. After that the oil will be
transferred to a settling tank. This technique can reduce the free fatty acids production. Free fatty
acids and water are two main factors that can cause catalytic reaction which result the low
conversation values. It also can cause the reaction progress to take longer time. (Refer appendix
5)

Based on the journal of Production of Biodiesel using Homogeneous Alkali Catalyst and its
Effect on Vehicular Emission,(Vyas et al.,2011) we used the information from the experiment as
our reference. The information obtained are:
 Reaction rate constant, k = 0.1341 min-1
 Reaction order, n ≈ 0.9209 (1st order)
mol
 Initial concentration of reactant A, CA0= 6
dm ^3
 Time of reaction = 90 minutes

The molecular weight of reactants and products:

 Jatropha oil = 894 g/mol

 Methanol = 32.04 g/mol
 Methyl ester(methyl oleate) = 296.48794 g/mol
 Glycerol = 92.09 g/mol

Batch reactor is the most common reactor used in the production of biodiesel at pilot scale since
it operates at temperatures near the boiling point of alcohol (78.37°C) (Hasheminezhad et
al.,2014). From the question, the volume of the reactor is stated to be at least V= 50 L.

The equation used for batch reactor is :

dX
t  NA0 
 rAV
Since this reaction is 1st order, the rate law will be:

-rA= kCA

CA = CA0 (1-x)

After substitution and integration, the equation can be rearranged into:

 1 1
t  [ln ]
k 1 X

1 1
90 min  [ln ]
0.1341 min^ 1 1  X
X  0.999994265

The production of biodiesel using lipase-catalyzed batch reactor is a reversible reaction (Ghaly et
al.,2010).(Refer appendix 6)

But we were unable to calculate the conversion using reversible equation due to lack of
information such as equilibrium conversion,Xe and concentration equilibrium constant,Kc.

DISCUSSIONS

In this assignment, we are required to do research on the production of biodiesel from jatropha
oil using enzymatic method in pilot scale of at least 50 L with high conversion and low cost.
Jatropha curcas is a perennial, oil-seed bearing shrub originating from Central America, and
which has now been introduced to other tropical regions in Africa and Asia. Unlike palm or soy,
which are key edible cooking oils, Jatropha trees become poisonous within months of growth,
meaning that the branches, leaves and seeds cannot be eaten by humans or animals. The net
result of this is that Jatropha oil does not suffer from direct competition with food crops, as is the
case with most other biofuels feedstocks. This is important, as edible oil prices are volatile and
competition between food and fuel uses is pushing up prices, with potentially negative impacts
on low-income consumers in the developing world. (Eize de Vries, 2007).

Another of the claimed benefits of growing Jatropha is that it is easy to cultivate, can
grow on all the climatic conditions and even on poor and infertility soils. It is less expensive with
light amount of water and maintenances. The percentage of yield is high and the extraction of oil
is also maximum. The table below shows the fatty acid composition of Jatropha Curcas oil
(ASTM standard).
 In the production of biodiesel process, Jatropha seed will be extracting to form crude oil
and the crude oil (triglyceride) then will mix together with methanol to produced biodiesel
(glycerol) and methyl esters. The reaction is simplified as this

Transesterification reaction will take part in this process to produce the high quality
biofuel which is then be used as a biodiesel in transportations and vehicles.

To complete this task, we have chosen the batch reactor. This most common reactor
which is used in small scale production can give high amount of conversion with low cost. This
type of reactors is easy to handle, maintain and operate. In the pilot biodiesel plant, jatropha oil is
blended with alcohol and enzyme mixture in reactor. The reactor is kept at reaction temperature
for specific duration with vigorous agitation. After reaction, the biodiesel and glycerol mixture is
sent to the glycerol settling tank. The crude biodiesel is collected and washed to get pure
biodiesel. Depending upon the need, the size of the unit can be scaled up to get higher production
capacity. The table below shows the fuel properties of jatropha oil and its biodiesel properties.

The produced biodiesel weight relative to the initial used jatropha oil was taken as the
biodiesel yield. Theoretically, if 50 L of triglycerides react with 5 L of methanol, theoretical
results should be 50 L of biodiesel and 5 L of glycerol.

From the problem solving, the calculated conversion value of this biodiesel production is
0.999994265 which means this production almost reach completion. Since the production of
biodiesel using lipase-catalyzed batch reactor is a reversible reaction, the conversion using
reversible equation is unable to calculate due to lack of information such as equilibrium
conversion, Xe and concentration equilibrium constant, Kc.

APPENDIXES

Appendix 1
Appendix 2

Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6
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