Continuous biodiesel production in a packed bed reactor from microalgae Chlorella sp. using DBSA catalyst

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Biodiesel production from Chlorella sp. oil using dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid catalyst in the packed bed reactor filled with a cylindrical glass raschig rings was investigated. The best conditions for the esterification and transesterification reactions were found to be (process temperature: 373.15 K, residence time: 30 min, methyl alcohol/oil ratio: 30, and catalyst loading: 11 wt%) which provide a yield of 99%. The water content effect was tested and the best value for the production of more than 90% biodiesel yield should be less than 0.5 wt%. Acid value was found to be decreased strongly using the DBSA catalyst in the esterification reaction. DBSA was found to be a highly active catalyst for the transesterification of Chlorella sp. compared to the activity of H2SO4 catalyst. The residence time of only 30 min using the DBSA catalyst would make the process more economical process compared to the batch process using sulfuric acid catalyst which consume more than 12 h. The flow characterization in the packed bed reactor was tested and characterized as laminar viscous flow with a Reynold number of 6.42 × 10−5.