Optimization of biodiesel production from rapeseed using pulsed electric field method

Subject Areas : environmental management

Mohammad Ali Salehi ¹ , Narges Ahmadi ²

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran. * (Corresponding Author)
2 - MSc, Department of Chemical Engineering, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran.

Received: 2015-12-16 Accepted : 2016-02-09 Published : 2018-12-22

Keywords: Non-thermal process, Pulsed Electric Filed, Alkaline in-situ Transesterifi, Boidiesel,

Abstract :

Background and Objective: Biodiesel is a fuel derived from renewable resources such as edible and non-edible oil-bearing seeds. Unlike conventional biodiesel processes, to simplify production process and reduce production costs, transesterification can be performed on the oil-bearing seeds directly and without prior extraction. Method: In this study, application of pulsed electric field and its effects on the efficiency of mass production of ester crushed canola seed by reactive extraction with the optimum ratio of methanol to oil and concentration of catalyst were discussed. Esther mass efficiencies were compared in the processes with and without electric field. Findings: According to the results, the optimal methanol to oil ratio of 1:475 and a catalyst concentration of 0.1 mol NaOH/kg methanol were obtained. Using the pulsed electric field pre-preparation method, the biodiesel mass efficiency in reactive extraction at a moderate temperature increased and reached over 76% only in 1 minute. Also, studies have shown that the using a field of 7kV/cm increases mass efficiency by 9–58.5% and increases the conversion rates compared to the control sample in moderate temperature and particles sizes of 1200-300 micron by about 1%. Study of the effective parameters showed an increase in the frequency and number of pulses, temperature and particle size, leading to increase of the efficiency of biodiesel production. Discussion and Conclusion: The results indicate that the electric field pulse could be desirable as a way to generate and optimize the efficiency of the extraction process used under low temperature conditions.

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