The advantages of biodiesel as an alternative fuel and the problems involved in its manufacturing are outlined. The pros and cons of making biodiesel via fatty acid esterification using solid acid catalysts are examined. The main problem is finding a suitable catalyst that is active, selective, and stable under the process conditions. Various solid acids (zeolites, ion-exchange resins, and mixed metal oxides) are screened as catalysts in the esterification of dodecanoic acid with 2-ethylhexanol, 1-propanol, and methanol at 130 -180 8C. The most promising candidate is found to be sulphated zirconia. The catalysts stability towards thermal decomposition and leaching is tested and the effects of the surface composition and structure on the catalytic activity are discussed.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Throughout history, distillation has been the most widespread separation method. However, despite its simplicity and flexibility, distillation still remains very energy inefficient. Novel distillation concepts based on process intensification, can deliver major benefits, not just in terms of significantly lower energy use, but also in reducing capital investment and improving eco-efficiency. While very likely to remain the separation technology of choice for the next decades, there is no doubt that distillation technology needs to make radical changes in order to meet the demands of the energy-conscious modern society. This article aims to show that in spite of its long age, distillation technology is still young and full of breakthrough opportunities. Moreover, it provides a broad overview of the recent developments in distillation based on process intensification principles, for example heat pump assisted distillation (e.g. vapor compression or compression-resorption), heat-integrated distillation column, membrane distillation, HiGee distillation, cyclic distillation, thermally coupled distillation systems (Petlyuk), dividingwall column, and reactive distillation. These developments as well as the future perspectives of distillation are discussed in the context of changes towards a more energy efficient and sustainable chemical process industry. Several key examples are also included to illustrate the astonishing potential of these new distillation concepts to significantly reduce the capital and operating cost at industrial scale.

The purification of bioethanol fuel involves an energy-intensive separation process to concentrate the diluted streams obtained in the fermentation stage and to overcome the azeotropic behavior of the ethanol–water mixture. The conventional separation sequence employs three distillation columns that carry out several tasks, penalized by high-energy requirements: preconcentration of ethanol, extractive distillation, and solvent recovery. To solve this problem, we propose here a novel heat-pump-assisted extractive distillation process taking place in a dividing-wall column (DWC). In this configuration, the ethanol top vapor stream of the extractive DWC is recompressed from atmospheric pressure to over 3.1 bar (thus to a higher temperature) and used to drive the side reboiler of the DWC, which is responsible for the water vaporization. For a fair comparison with the previously reported studies, we consider here a mixture of 10 wt % ethanol (100 ktpy plant capacity) that is concentrated and dehydrated using ethylene glycol as mass-separating agent. Rigorous process simulations of the proposed vapor recompression (VRC) heat-pump-assisted extractive DWC were carried out in AspenTech Aspen Plus. The results show that the specific energy requirements drop from 2.07 kWh/kg (classic sequence) to only 1.24 kWh/kg ethanol (VRC-assisted extractive DWC); thus, energy savings of over 40% are possible. Considering the requirements for a compressor and use of electricity in the case of the heat-pump-assisted alternative, it is possible to reduce the total annual cost by approximately 24%, despite the 29% increase of the capital expenditures, for the novel process as compared to the optimized conventional separation process.

The properties and use of biodiesel as a renewable fuel as well as the problems associated with its current production processes are outlined. A novel sustainable esterification process based on catalytic reactive distillation is proposed. The pros and cons of manufacturing biodiesel via fatty acid esterification using metal oxide solid acid catalysts are investigated. Finding catalysts that are active, selective, and stable under the process conditions is the main challenge for a successful design. The best candidates are metal oxides such as niobic acid, sulfated zirconia, sulfated titania, and sulfated tin oxide. Rigorous process simulations show that combining metal oxide catalysts with reactive distillation technology is a feasible and advantageous solution for biodiesel production.

No abstract