THEORETICAL ANALYSES OF THE FLOW PATTERNS IN THE BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Kelvin Chen¹; Carolina Palma Naveira Cotta¹

¹ Mechanical Engineering Prog. - COPPE/UFRJ

doi:10.20906/CPS/COB-2015-2696

Resumo

This work presents a theoretical study of different types of flow inside microreactors for biodiesel synthesis, using two immiscible fluids: methanol and soybean oil in the presence of a catalyst (NaOH). Two flow patterns were studied: stratified flow, that is a laminar flow with a fixed interface between the immiscible fluids, and segmented flow, that is spherical droplets of one fluid, in motion, surrounded by the other fluid. This problem is here modeled through the Navier-Stokes equation and mass transfer equation coupled with a second order kinetic equations, assuming homogeneous, reversible and elementary chemical reactions. The mathematical model was solved using the finite element method using the multiphysics platform COMSOL. The main objective is to compare the influence, in the biodiesel synthesis, of different flow patterns in order to achieve higher conversions of triglycerides to biodiesel with lower residence times.

Palavras-chave: biodiesel; microreactor; stratified flow; segmental flow