2011 International Conference on Alternative Energy in Developing Countries and Emerging Economies
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Fig. 4. The image of the tested biodiesel passing through the spray
nozzle at 3 bar.
Fig. 5. The image of the tested biodiesel passing through the spray
nozzle at 5 bar.
Fig. 6. The image of the tested biodiesel passing through the spray
nozzle at 7 bar.
A. Temperature
The effect of temperature on alcohol recovery is revealed in Fig. 7.
It shows that the amount of alcohol recovery increases slightly as
temperature increases. Although, the amount of recovered alcohol is
highest at 100
o
C, at this high temperature might not be an appropriate
condition for alcohol recovery. Since the biodiesel is turned to black
color. The appearance of the test biodiesel before and after the test is
given in Fig. 8-9.
Temperature (
o
C)
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
Alcohol recovery (%)
0
20
40
60
80
100
3 bar
5 bar
7 bar
Fig. 7. Effect of temperature on alcohol recovery.
Fig. 8. Apparance of the tested biodiesel
Fig. 9. Apparance of the recovered alcohol biodiesel at 80, 90, and
100
o
C.
IV. C
ONCLUSIONS
The study of the effect of the operating parameters on
the alcohol recovery from mixed methyl-ethyl esters by
using Flash evaporation technique
are conducted under
the studied system. On the basis of the experimental
results, it can be concluded that all of the operating
parameters have effects on the amount of alcohol
recovery to varying extents.
Based on the experimental results, the suitable
condition for alcohol recovery is at low flow rate and
high pressure and temperature. However, too high
temperature, 100
o
C might effect on some properties of
the biodiesel such as its color. Therefore the optimum
condition based on our experiments is at 90
o
C, 7 bar
and18 L/hr.
The reason for the increase in alcohol recovery can be
explained on the basis of the alcohol evaporation process.
The larger surface area of the feedstock, the higher the
rate of alcohol evaporation resulting in the increase in the
amount of alcohol recovery.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Discipline of
Excellence (DOE) in providing financial assistance for
this research and acknowledge the Department of
Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and
Specialized R&D Center for Alternative Energy from
Plam Oil and Oil Corps, Prince of Songkla University for
their kind supports, budget year 2009.
References
[1] Project database on production. And trading of
petrochemical products research. Petroleum and
Petrochemical College. Chulalongkorn University. 1988.
[2]
Prince of Songkhla University’s Biodiesel Research
Institution Faculty of Engineering Prince of Songkla
University.
the
production
of
biodiesel.
Aug.,
2010
80
o
C
90
o
C
100
o
C
