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Simulation and optimization of a continuous biodiesel plant using nonlinear programming

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  • Alvarães, Adan de Oliveira
  • Prata, Diego Martinez
  • Santos, Lizandro de Sousa

Abstract

The continuous production of biodiesel is achieved through a sequence of stages such as reaction, absorption, decantation, and product distillation. These steps require certain performance criteria that must be optimized. Several works have addressed the optimization of the design of biodiesel plants, and these have usually examined modifications to the dimensions and types of equipment or energy integration. However, there is only limited literature available on determining optimal operating conditions for existing processes. In this paper, the steady-state optimization of a soybean continuous biodiesel plant is proposed. To this end, a mathematical model to describe the chemical kinetics of soybean oil transesterification was developed and incorporated into a chemical process simulator. The optimization procedure is based on multidimensional Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP), in which the primary objectives were to minimize the plant’s energy consumption subject to a minimum of 99 wt% biodiesel purity. The results reveal that the optimization of the current process allows a 4.45% reduction in energy consumption compared to the base case. Besides, the study also evidenced that the optimization approach can be applied to recalculate the optimal point when possible disturbances can deviate the system from a steady state.

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  • Alvarães, Adan de Oliveira & Prata, Diego Martinez & Santos, Lizandro de Sousa, 2019. "Simulation and optimization of a continuous biodiesel plant using nonlinear programming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:189:y:2019:i:c:s0360544219320006
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.116305
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Balat, Mustafa & Balat, Havva, 2010. "Progress in biodiesel processing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(6), pages 1815-1835, June.
    2. Coronado, Christian Rodriguez & Tuna, Celso Eduardo & Zanzi, Rolando & Vane, Lucas F. & Silveira, José Luz, 2013. "Development of a thermoeconomic methodology for the optimization of biodiesel production—Part I: Biodiesel plant and thermoeconomic functional diagram," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 138-146.
    3. Coronado, Christian Rodriguez & Tuna, Celso Eduardo & Zanzi, Rolando & Vane, Lucas F. & Silveira, José Luz, 2014. "Development of a thermoeconomic methodology for optimizing biodiesel production. Part II: Manufacture exergetic cost and biodiesel production cost incorporating carbon credits, a Brazilian case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 565-572.
    4. Yun, Huimin & Wang, Meng & Feng, Wei & Tan, Tianwei, 2013. "Process simulation and energy optimization of the enzyme-catalyzed biodiesel production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 84-96.
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    1. Sun, Dayu & Gao, Lijing & Wei, Ruiping & Pan, Xiaomei & Xiao, Guomin, 2023. "Mechanical vapor recompression coupling organic rankine cycle process for purification of crude biodiesel obtained by solid base-catalyzed transesterification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

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