title: Biodiesel production from palm oil using combined mechanical stirred and ultrasonic reactor.
abstract: This paper investigates the production of biodiesel from palm oil using a combined mechanical stirred and ultrasonic reactor (MS-US). The incorporation of mechanical stirring into the ultrasonic reactor explored the further improvement the transesterification of palm oil. Initial reaction rate values were 54.1, 142.9 and 164.2 mmol/L min for the mechanical-stirred (MS), ultrasonic (US) and MS-US reactors, respectively. Suitable methanol to oil molar ratio and the catalyst loading values were found to be 6 and 1 of oil, respectively. The effect of ultrasonic operating parameters; i.e. frequency, location, and number of transducer, has been investigated. Based on the conversion yield at the reactor outlet after 1 h, the number of transducers showed a relevant role in the reaction rate. Frequency and transducer location would appear to have no significant effect. The properties of the obtained biodiesel (density, viscosity, pour point, and flash point) satisfy the ASTM standard. The combined MS-US reactors improved the reaction rate affording the methyl esters in higher yield.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence in Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Choedkiatsakul
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep, Bangkok 10120, Thailand.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ngaosuwan
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienza e Tecnologia del Farmaco, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 9, I-10125 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cravotto
authors.affiliation: Centre of Excellence in Catalysis and Catalytic Reaction Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand. Electronic address: Suttichai.A@chula.ac.th.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Assabumrungrat
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D002384:Catalysis; D004952:Esters; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D000073878:Palm Oil; D055585:Physical Phenomena; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004952:Esters; D010938:Plant Oils; D000073878:Palm Oil; D000432:Methanol
keywords: Biodiesel; Combined mechanical stirred and ultrasonic reactor; Dual frequency operation; Flow ultrasonic reactor