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

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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.

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Keywords

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

Citation

10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.04.014

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Elsevier

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