CFD simulation of fatty acid methyl ester production in bubble column reactor

2nd International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics in Research and Industry

力学;计算机科学;工业技术

Mohd Salleh, N.S.^1 ; Nasir, N.F.^1

Centre for Energy and Environment Studies, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Parit Raja, Johor, Batu Pahat

86400, Malaysia^1

关键词: ANSYS-CFX;    Bubble column reactors;    CFD simulations;    Fatty acid methyl ester;    Non-catalytic transesterification;    Optimum conditions;    Reaction temperature;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/243/1/012034/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/243/1/012034

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

Non-catalytic transesterification is one of the method that was used to produce the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) by blowing superheated methanol bubbles continuously into the vegetable oil without using any catalyst. This research aimed to simulate the production of FAME from palm oil in a bubble column reactor. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation was used to predict the distribution of fatty acid methyl ester and other product in the reactor. The fluid flow and component of concentration along the reaction time was investigated and the effects of reaction temperature (523 K and 563 K) on the non-catalytic transesterification process has been examined. The study was carried out using ANSYS CFX 17.1. The finding from the study shows that increasing the temperature leads to higher amount of fatty acid methyl ester can be produced in shorter time. On the other hand, concentration of the component such as triglyceride (TG), glycerol (GL) and fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) can be known when reaching the optimum condition.