Solar radiation as a renewable energy source for the biodiesel production by esterification of palm fatty acid distillate

Abstract

The present work deals with the utilization of renewable energy (solar energy) with help of Fresnel lens solar concentrator (FSC) for the esterification of Palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD). In the esterification reaction different reaction parameters like molar ratio, catalyst dosage, stirring speed, addition of molecular sieves and reaction time were studied using one factor at a time approach to get maximum percentage conversion of PFAD. The highest conversion of 96.81% was achieved at a molar ratio of 8:1, catalyst dosage of 1.25 wt %, stirring speed of 200 rpm, reaction temperature of 62 °C, molecular sieves of 6 wt% and reaction time of 30 min under FSC approach. The conventional hotplate heating method was also performed to show the advantage of the FSC method over the conventional method. In the conventional hotplate heating method the maximum conversion of 68.65% was achieved under similar reaction condition as applied for the FSC method. Furthermore, the energy efficiency of the process was also compared. It was found that the FSC method was highly energy efficient than the conventional hotplate heating method for the esterification reaction.