Separation techniques using temperature gradient and their application in biodiesel production

The separation of methanol from glycerin and biodiesel in the biodiesel manufacturing significantly adds to the cost of the biodiesel. The novel reactor-separator, which is being designed in our laboratory, will significantly decrease the cost of separating methanol from glycerin and biodiesel. This novel reactor-separator uses the concept of thermal gradient to carry out the separation. The reactor-separator has an extension, which is referred as the "Auto-Recycle Discharge". This discharge is relatively simple to construct and it eliminates the need of conventional flash separator and condenser. The use of reactor separator also decreases the stoichiometric requirement of the methanol compared to the conventional reactor. The reactor-separator decreases both the energy costs and the equipment costs of the biodiesel industry.; Studies reveal that this concept works very well for separating methanol from glycerin. Glycerin with less than 2% methanol concentration is so far obtained using this separator. This concept may be extended for the separation of methanol from biodiesel. Preliminary studies have been conducted so far, but several optimization details still need to be worked out. The prospects for this new concept and its application at different places in biodiesel industry are outstanding and it will decrease the cost of biodiesel facilities by greater than 30%.