Revisiting Trans-Esterification to Produce Biodiesel: Novel Reactors, Separation Strategies and Economic Outlook

Biodiesel produced from vegetable oil and animal fats has been widely accepted as an alternative fuel source. Its production via batch transesterification process is constrained by long residence time, immiscibility of oil and methanol, and inadequate conversion. A number of novel reactor configurations have been developed in recent years to surmount these problems. The present article deals with the prospects and potentials of some of the new process technologies of trans-esterification. Reaction/separation coupled systems like membrane process and reactive distillation have also been highlighted. Other promising areas of technology improvement through heterogeneous catalytic continuous production, and catalyst-free supercritical trans-esterification are discussed. Finally, some aspects of operating and fixed costs of biodiesel by trans-esterification by various processes are analyzed.