Production of biodiesel from Palm Fatty Acid Distillate in Bidco Uganda Limited

Abstract

Biodiesel presents greater advantages over petroleum based fuel since it is non-toxic, contains less air pollutant and is bio-degradable. This report discusses the production of biodiesel from palm fatty acid distillate, a by-product of palm oil by esterification using Aspen Plus. In this project, the model used for designing the esterification process is UNIQUAC. The model is designed in such a way that a maximum conversion of 99% is achieved. The report also discusses the composition of bio-diesel, different methods used for its production and the feasibility of using PFAD as a feedstock. The main parameters of the distillation column such as the molar ratio of the feed, number of stages, and reboiler heat duty were employed in the simulation study. The effect of operating parameters such as molar ratio of the reactants, operating temperature and quantity of catalyst used were studied for process optimization.