Simulation and life cycle assessment of process design alternatives for biodiesel production from waste vegetable oils

Morais, Sérgio Alberto; Mata, Teresa M.; Martins, A. A.; Pinto, Gilberto; Costa, Carlos A.V.

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/3030

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Authors

Morais, Sérgio Alberto

Abstract(s)

This study uses the process simulator ASPEN Plus and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to compare three process design alternatives for biodiesel production from waste vegetable oils that are: the conventional alkali-catalyzed process including a free fatty acids (FFAs) pre-treatment, the acid-catalyzed process, and the supercritical methanol process using propane as co-solvent. Results show that the supercritical methanol process using propane as co-solvent is the most environmentally favorable alternative. Its smaller steam consumption in comparison with the other process design alternatives leads to a lower contribution to the potential environmental impacts (PEI’s). The acid-catalyzed process generally shows the highest PEI’s, in particular due to the high energy requirements associated with methanol recovery operations.

Keywords

Biodiesel Waste vegetable oil Process design Process simulation Life cycle assessment (LCA) Alkali-catalyzed process Acid-catalyzed process Supercritical methanol process