A corrugated plates heat exchanger reactor showing very high productivity in the transesterification of soybean oil with methanol, in the presence of a homogeneous alkaline catalyst (KOH, sodium methoxide), has recently been tested. The reactor is a small size corrugated-plate heat exchanger having a low distance between the plates of 1.5-2 mm.
A surprising behavior has been observed according to which the conversion to biodiesel increases by increasing the overall flow rates. This can be explained by examining the fluid dynamic behavior of the system with a step test, at different flow rates, made on single-phase liquid fluid. The observed experimental data for the higher flow rates can roughly be approximated to a plug flow behavior despite the very low Reynolds number. This is due to the intervention of a very active micromixing.
*Use of a Corrugated Plates Heat Exchanger Reactor for Obtaining Biodiesel with Very High Productivity.
Santacesaria, E.; Di Serio, M.; Tesser, R.; Casale, L.; Verde, D.; Turco, R.; Bertola, A.
Energy & Fuels (2009), 23(10), 5206-5212