Process synthesis and optimization of a supercritical methanol biodiesel production plant

SUSANA ESPINOSA; MARIA SOLEDAD DIAZ; ESTEBAN A. BRIGNOLE

Copenhagen

Congreso; European Congress of Chemical Engineering (ECCE-6); 2007

Denmark Technical University

In this work, we address the process synthesis, simulation and optimization of the supercritical transesterification of vegetable oils with supercritical methanol. A rigorous process simulation is performed based on a group contribution equation of state with association for the prediction of the phase equilibria. The nonlinear problem is solved with a successive quadratic programming algorithm.