Avaliação do efeito de diferentes impelidores, da presença de chicana e da velocidade de agitação na produção de biodiesel de soja, via transesterificação etílica

Abstract

Petroleum, power limited, finite and not renewable, is responsible for the majority of all energy consumed in the world. The consumption of petroleum fuels is increasing each year, resulting in increased air pollution and acid rain. Because of this the global economy needs alternative energy sources. Biodiesel exists as an alternative to replacement of diesel. Biodiesel can be obtained from the transesterification reaction, in which the triglycerides present in vegetable oils or animal fats react with short chain alcohol in the presence of a catalyst for the esters of fatty acids. Various types of impellers may be used to produce stirring and mixing in the liquid. To produce mixture is necessary and that power supply is normally produced by rotation of an impeller. Besides the type of impeller and the speed of rotation, the power delivered also depends on the physical properties of the fluid and the shape of the reactor, in addition to the arrangement of system components as baffles. The objective of this work is to study the effect of different impellers, the presence of baffle and agitation speed on biodiesel production from soybeans. The experiments were performed according to the experimental design 23. The experimental design allows us to analyze the influence of variables on the response. The set parameters are: temperature (70 °C); molar ratio oil / alcohol (1/10); amount of catalyst (1,5%) and reaction time (30 min). The three variables are: impeller (turbine or blades), baffle (with or without) and agitation speed (150 rpm or 350 rpm). The evaluation parameter is the efficiency into biodiesel, at different times of reaction, determined by gas chromatography. The experiments allowed us to evaluate the effects of the variables involved in the process of mixing and agitation during the reaction for obtaining biofuel, as well as analysis of the effects of interactions between these variables. The experiments had high yields on 5 minute reaction and from this time yields varied little. Analyzing the main effects in the first few minutes, the best yields were obtained in experiments without baffle, with turbine impeller and with stirring speed of 350 rpm.