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Glycerolysis of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters: 2. Simulation and Experiments in Continuous Reactors

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Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

The glycerolysis of methyl ester was investigated in flow reactors. This reaction represents a liquid two-phase reaction with changing reaction rates in a batch reactor. A semi-empirical model tested earlier with batch reactor data was used to simulate different continuous processes for this reaction. Among the processes simulated, a single continuous-flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) without recycling was considered most appropriate for experimental implementation, although simulations showed that a faster reaction rate is possible with the application of a CSTR followed by a tubular reactor with certain associated residence times. The CSTR simulations were verified experimentally. A good agreement was found between the experimental data and simulation results.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the Berliner Graduiertenkolleg 827 “Transportvorgänge an bewegten Phasengrenzflächen” and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for financial support. One of the authors (Negi) wishes to thank Y. Kasaka for help with experimental work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Chemie und Fachgebiet Dynamik und Betrieb technischer Anlagen Sekr. T.C. 8. , Technische Universität Berlin, Strasse des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany

    Devender S. Negi, Tobias Kimmel, Günter Wozny & Reinhard Schomäcker

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  1. Devender S. Negi
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  2. Tobias Kimmel
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  3. Günter Wozny
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  4. Reinhard Schomäcker
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Correspondence to Reinhard Schomäcker.

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Negi, D.S., Kimmel, T., Wozny, G. et al. Glycerolysis of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters: 2. Simulation and Experiments in Continuous Reactors. J Amer Oil Chem Soc 84, 91–96 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-006-1010-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-006-1010-8

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