A new process for biodiesel production from tall oil via catalytic distillation

• Published in: Chemical engineering research & design Vol. 170; pp. 314 - 328
• Main Authors: Albuquerque, Allan Almeida, Ng, Flora T.T., Danielski, Leandro, Stragevitch, Luiz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rugby Elsevier B.V 01.06.2021; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Biodiesel; Biodiesel fuels; Catalysts; Catalytic distillation column (CDC); Composition effects; Crude tall oil (CTO); Distillation; Economics; Esterification; Fatty acids; Feasibility; Free fatty acids (FFA); Purification; Vacuum distillation; Vegetable oils; Free fatty acids (FFA); Crude tall oil (CTO); Biodiesel; Esterification; Catalytic distillation column (CDC)
• ISSN: 0263-8762; 1744-3563
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cherd.2021.04.014

[Display omitted] •Two processes were evaluated for tall oil purification and byproducts production.•A solid acid-catalyzed process for biodiesel production from tall oil was designed.•Catalytic distillation (CD) and catalytic divided-wall column were investigated.•The most feasible process for biodiesel production was based on CD.•Stochastic optimization and effect of crude tall oils were investigated. In this work, the techno-economic feasibility of a new process for biodiesel production from crude tall oil (CTO) was investigated. A solid acid-catalyzed (SAC) route based on esterification of free fatty acids (FFA) using a catalytic distillation column (CDC) with Relite CFS as the catalyst was employed. CTO purification was needed to achieve biodiesel standard specifications. A base case and an alternative process for CTO purification from four and three distillation columns were designed, optimized and techno-economically assessed. The alternative process was technically feasible for biodiesel production and also more economical and eco-friendly. Therefore, this process was investigated for biodiesel production by the SAC process using a CDC and a catalytic divided-wall column (CDWC). The CDWC process was not technically feasible, so that the CDC process was globally optimized based on six inputs. Finally, the effect of CTO composition was also investigated, so that a final design was obtained for biodiesel production using CTO coming from the United States of America, Canada and Scandinavia.