Simulation of the Production Process of Biodiesel from Jatropha Curcas Oil

MRIA FERNANDA LABORDE; LAURA IVANA ORIFICI; A. BANDONI; MEDARDO SERNA GONZALEZ; JOSÉ MARÍA PONCE ORTEGA; MARÍA CRISTINA GELY; ANA MARIA PAGANO

LATIN AMERICAN APPLIED RESEARCH

PLAPIQUI(UNS-CONICET)

Lugar: Bahia Blanca; Año: 2019 vol. 49 p. 275 - 281

0327-0793

In this paper was assessed the potential of biodiesel production from Jatropha curcas oil. The proposed process was simulated in the software As-pen Plus? involving the stages of trans-esterification reaction, methanol recovering, purification of the ob-tained methyl esters, catalyst removing, purifying of glycerol and the energy integration through heat ex-change networks (HEN). The biodiesel process was carried out through the catalytic reaction of trans-esterification of Jatropha oil with methanol using a molar ratio of methanol oil of 6:1, and with 1% w/w of NaOH (related to oil mass) as catalyst. Under these conditions, it is technologically feasible to carry out the production of biodiesel. With energy integration through the synthesis of HENs, reductions of 8.5% and 6.5% of hot and cold utilities were achieved. This way, the utility cost decreases 7.2%. The net present value (NPV) for the integrated process was 7.3% higher than the one corresponding to the non-inte-grated process under the same production conditions.