Continuous Production of Biodiesel Using a Microtube Reactor

Transesterification of sunflower oil to biodiesel was carried out in a microtube reactor with either a T-type mixer or a micromixer. The effects of molar ratio of methanol to sunflower oil, flow rate, reaction temperature, and microtube size on the oil conversion were investigated. The oil conversions obtained in the microtube reactors were higher than those obtained in the lab-scale batch reactor. The oil conversions were obviously improved when a T-type mixer was replaced by a micromixer. Sunflower oil was completely converted to biodiesel even if the residence time was as short as 112 s at a reaction temperature of 60oC for a microtube reactor (1 mm i.d. and 160 mm in length) with a micromixer.