Experimental analysis of biomass to biodiesel conversion using a novel renewable combined cycle system

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a novel renewable hybrid system was designed and constructed to efficiently produce biodiesel through various methods. First, a parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) was used as a renewable source for producing desalinated water in a solar still. Then, the heat dissipated by PTC and water produced by the solar still were used to generate biodiesel. Finally, the combined cycle of PTC/desalination/biodiesel generator was applied to produce heat and steady power. Necessary electricity in the hybrid system containing pumps, mixing tools, etc. was provided by photovoltaic panels. After launching the hybrid system and performing experiments to produce biodiesel on Palm and Chlorella bioenergy carriers, the percentage of the biodiesel production for these two species in different ways were as follows: alkaline catalyzed transesterification (79.17,81.46), acid-catalyzed transesterification (79.1,81.43), two-step transesterification (78.07,81.42), supercritical transesterification (75.16,80.68), microemulsion (76.3,81.4), electrolysis (50.25, 58.87), and pyrolysis (13.677,14.833). Moreover, the lowest price belonged to the alkaline catalyzed transesterification which for palm/chlorella was 0.65/0.972. In most methods, the cetane number of palm-based biodiesel was higher (∼58). Consequently, it had a better combustion quality compared to chlorella-based biodiesel (∼44). This study also modeled various processes for the bioenergy carrier conversion. The results were consistent with experimental data.