Kinetic study and simulation of the biodiesel production process using a mixture of palm and rapeseed oils

This study focuses on demonstrating the changes that occur in the transesterification reaction of methanol and African palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) when mixed with rapeseed oil. All changes were analyzed both at the kinetic level and in terms of the technical feasibility of large-scale production in a basic medium, catalyzed by sodium hydroxide. The best reagent concentration conditions were determined statistically in each case and then used to obtain the reaction kinetics through chromatographic analysis at regular time intervals. The quality of the product obtained was compared with the specifications of the ASTM D6751 standard, demonstrating compliance with these standards. Once the necessary data had been obtained, the production process for this biofuel was simulated using the SuperPro Designer® simulator. The results obtained show that modifying the fatty acid content by adding rapeseed oil to palm oil favorably changes its reaction kinetics, improving its energy produced to energy consumed ratio.