Method of increasing transesterification conversion of oils

Abstract

A method that can effectively increase the transesterification conversion of oils comprises the following steps of setting a rotating packed bed reactor for performing centrifugal rotation, centrifugally rotating the rotating packed bed to rotate relative to the container by the drive shaft; heating the oils and additives being heated to arrive at a temperature range approximately between 40 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius before entering the rotating packed bed; injecting the oils and the additives; performing the transesterification reaction, wherein the oils and the additives are delivered by a centrifugal force to pass through the stainless steel filler in the packed reaction region; performing the transesterification reaction with a rotation speed range of approximately 300 rpm to 1500 rpm; inducing a phase separation; and collecting the effluent at the outlet of the rotating packed bed reactor.

1 . A method of increasing transesterification conversion of oils which uses oils and additives as raw materials, comprising the following steps of: heating the oils and additives, injecting the oils and the additives into a high gravity field, performing a transesterification reaction, inducing a phase separation, and post-treating effluent to obtain biodiesel, preferably highly converted oils, characterized in that the transesterification reaction is carried out under the high gravity field. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the whole transesterification reaction is carried out in a high gravity reactor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oils and additives are heated to arrive at a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius to about 100 degrees Celsius 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the oils and the additives acting as reactants are injected into a rotating packed bed of the high gravity reactor, and sprayed to the inner edge of the rotating packed bed through bored holes of individual distributors, and delivered by a centrifugal force to pass through stainless steel filler where the oils are converted in the transesterification reaction with the additives. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the high gravity field comprises a centrifugal acceleration of about 50 m/s 2  to about 10,000 m/s 2 . 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein rotation speed of the rotating packed bed is about 300 rpm to about 1500 rpm. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the phase separation is carried out on a rigid baffle installed in an inner side of the peripheral wall of the high gravity reactor. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the post-treatments comprise one or more of separating, neutralizing, washing and distilling. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the oils comprise a triglyceride, an organic acid or a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the triglyceride is selected from a group consisting of olive oil, canola oil, tung oil, rapeseed oil, Chinese tallow tree oil, soybean oil, sesame oil, ricinus oil, rice bran oil, palm oil, coconut oil, jatropha oil, algae oil, tallow oil, lard oil and sunflower oil. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the organic acid is selected from a group consisting of stearic acid, lauric acid, myristic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the additives comprise an alcohol and a homogeneous catalyst. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the alcohol is methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol or butanol. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the homogeneous catalyst is an alkali metal compound or an inorganic acid. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the alkali metal compound is a sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide or sodium methoxide. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the inorganic acid is sulfuric acid, nitric acid or phosphoric acid.