Esterification process

[karenbelle]

I'm currently doing a design for my final year studies and it's regarding esterification process.

My proposed reactor is CSTR, operating at a temperature of 60C and 400 kPa. Reactants are methanol and jatropha oil with sulphuric acid catalyst. For a commercial scale production of biodiesel, since this is an endothermic reaction, how do I maintain the temperature of the reactor? Using cooling jackets will not give uniform heat distribution for large reactors, so what other alternatives do I have?

 

[moltenmetal]

Suggest you look up your terms: pretty tough to sustain an endothermic reaction with a COOLING device of any kind.

 

[georgeverghese]

You could consider a pumped recirculation scheme with an external hot water HX running with hot water at 80-90degC ? If this stream is heat sensitive, maybe use finned tubes in this HX. Also, the more the recirc rate, the lower the extent of high temp side reactions. Also cocurrent configuration further reduces exposure to high skin temps in the HX, albeit at a higher heat transfer area.

Agreed, presume you meant heating jackets and not cooling jackets for this endo thermic reaction ?

 

[georgeverghese]

Am afraid thats all you're going to get from this site - read website policies pls.