Challenges and opportunities in large-scale production of biodiesel

A complete or partial substitute for fossil diesel is looked forward globally. Biodiesel is a renewable green source that has sought the most attention. Most of the developed nations have been producing biodiesel in huge scale for their commercial needs. This chapter handles the large-scale synthesis of biodiesel from different lipid sources of biomass. When the scale of production is high, massive challenges in designing reactor systems, operating procedures say degumming of oil, and economic barriers have to be looked upon. The different types of reactors utilized for different methodologies of biodiesel production are studied. The maintenance of process conditions and pretreatments subjected in each process step for the high yield are also scrutinized. Proper separation techniques applied for glycerol, one of the major coproducts from the biodiesel plant, are also overviewed since it also has more economic value. A convenient and feasible large-scale methodology has been suggested in this chapter for biodiesel production in gallons. One serious issue to be highly considered in biodiesel plant is the generation of wastewater. The treatment of wastewater from the plant is also outlined.