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Hydrotreating Model Comparison of Raw Castor Oil and its Methyl Esters for Biofuel Production
Author(s) -
Mederos-Nieto Fabián S.,
Elizalde-Martínez Ignacio,
Hernández-Altamirano Raúl,
Trejo-Zárraga Fernando,
Mena-Cervantes Violeta Y.,
Ramírez-Jiménez Edgar,
Vallarta-Cardona Daniela E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201700619
Subject(s) - hydrodesulfurization , raw material , castor oil , diesel fuel , gasoline , biofuel , waste management , pulp and paper industry , vegetable oil , chemistry , environmental science , catalysis , organic chemistry , engineering
Some of the main problems during vegetable oil hydrotreating are the high heat of reaction released, the huge quantity of expensive hydrogen required, and the high corrosion rates in the equipment. Some insights into the advantages and disadvantages of processing raw vegetable oils or their respective fatty acid methyl esters are given. The ASPEN Plus process simulator was used for the simulation of a hydrotreating process, with two different feedstocks coming from the same plant: raw castor oil and castor oil methyl esters. That process was modeled with two stoichiometric reactors in series. The technical viability of using methyl esters as hydrotreating feedstock for the production of biofuels such as green gasoline and diesel is demonstrated.