Transesterification of vegetable oils: Simulating the replacement of batch reactors with continuous reactors

A kinetic model was employed to represent biodiesel production via transesterification of vegetable oils. Reaction rate constants found in the open literature were used in order to compare the behavior of batch and continuous processes. A single continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) under the usual operation conditions was not capable of achieving the same productivity as a batch process. However, when reactors in series were used, the continuous process presented a behavior similar to batch processes. As a result, it was evidenced that a series of CSTRs can be an industrially feasible choice for replacing batch transesterification reactors in large scale biodiesel plants. Further, it was shown that the loss in productivity caused by changing from batch to continuous process can be compensated by means of using higher catalyst concentrations.