Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7166536 | Energy Conversion and Management | 2013 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
This paper presents the conceptual design and economic evaluation of a production of methyl esters (biodiesel) from Jatropha curcas oil (JCO) via a supercritical methanol process with glycerol as a by-product. The process consists of four major units: transesterification (PFR), methanol recovery (FT) and (DC1), recovery of glycerol (DEC), and biodiesel purification (DC2). The material and heat balance are also presented here. A biodiesel production of 40,000 tonnes-yrâ1 is taken as case study. Biodiesel obtained from supercritical transesterification with Jatropha curcas oil as feedstock resulting in high purity methyl esters (99.96%) with almost pure glycerol (96.49%) obtained as by-product. The biodiesel can be sold at USD 0.78 kgâ1, while the manufacturing and capital investment costs are in the range of USD 25.39 million-yearâ1 and USD 9.41 million yearâ1, respectively. This study proved that biodiesel from JCO is the least expensive with purities comparable to those found in other studies.
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Authors
N.N.A.N. Yusuf, S.K. Kamarudin,