Transesterification process for production of biodiesel
First Claim
1. A process for the production of fatty acid esters from a triglyceride feedstock, the process comprising:
- introducing a triglyceride feed stream comprising the triglyceride feedstock into a reaction zone;
introducing a catalyst into the reaction zone;
introducing an alcohol into the triglyceride feed stream within the reaction zone, the triglyceride feed stream into which the alcohol is introduced being characterized as having a Reynolds number of at least about 2100; and
reacting the triglyceride feedstock and the alcohol to form a product mixture comprising fatty acid esters, glycerol and unreacted alcohol.
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Abstract
A process for the production of fatty acid esters from a triglyceride feedstock is provided. The process comprises introducing a catalyst and a triglyceride feed stream comprising the triglyceride feedstock into a reaction zone and introducing an alcohol into the feed stream within the reaction zone to form a product mixture comprising fatty acid esters, glycerol and unreacted alcohol. The feed stream into which the alcohol is introduced is characterized as having a Reynolds number of at least about 2100.
The invention further provides for a process and apparatus for introducing the alcohol into the triglyceride feed stream via a distributed feed system.
53 Citations
62 Claims
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1. A process for the production of fatty acid esters from a triglyceride feedstock, the process comprising:
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introducing a triglyceride feed stream comprising the triglyceride feedstock into a reaction zone;
introducing a catalyst into the reaction zone;
introducing an alcohol into the triglyceride feed stream within the reaction zone, the triglyceride feed stream into which the alcohol is introduced being characterized as having a Reynolds number of at least about 2100; and
reacting the triglyceride feedstock and the alcohol to form a product mixture comprising fatty acid esters, glycerol and unreacted alcohol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A continuous process for the production of fatty acid esters by transesterification of a triglyceride feedstock with an alcohol in the presence of a catalyst, the process comprising:
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introducing a triglyceride feed stream comprising the triglyceride feedstock into a first mixing zone of a reaction zone comprising two or more mixing zones in series;
introducing the alcohol into the triglyceride feed stream within the first mixing zone of said series of mixing zones;
introducing the catalyst into the reaction zone;
reacting the triglyceride feedstock and the alcohol in the reaction zone to produce an intermediate reaction mixture stream comprising fatty acid esters, glycerol and unreacted triglyceride feedstock and alcohol;
introducing the intermediate reaction mixture stream into a second mixing zone of said series of mixing zones;
introducing the alcohol into the intermediate reaction mixture stream within the second mixing zone of said series of mixing zones;
reacting the unreacted triglyceride feedstock in the intermediate reaction mixture stream with the alcohol introduced into the intermediate reaction mixture stream in the reaction zone; and
withdrawing a final reaction product mixture containing fatty acid esters, glycerol and unreacted alcohol from the reaction zone. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
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Specification