3.2 Transesterification

Transesterification reaction in general can be represented as the reaction between triglyceride and alcohol to produce alkyl esters and glycerol. The best example is a synthesis of biodiesel using transesterification. Commercially, no industrial unit has been reported on synthesis of biodiesel in RD, but the literature shows that pilot-scale synthesis is possible. This process occurs by reacting the vegetable oil with alcohol in the presence of an alkaline or acidic catalyst.

Heterogeneous catalysts are more effective from an economical point of view for biodiesel production. Sometimes transesterification can be a beneficial alternative to hydrolysis as it does not involve formation of water, and moreover, it brings out the value added through formation of another ester.

3.6 Dehydration

3.7 Acetylation

the knocking in the engine.

3.8 Isomerization

3.9 Oligomerization

3.10 Product purity

trial literature.

95

Dehydration reaction simply means removal of water. This process is employed

Various processes thereby produce a by-product which is of other important industrial use. Like in the case of biodiesel manufacturing using methanol, we get a secondary by-product called glycerol. It is a very good raw material for the process called acetylating as in this process, especially when carried out in reactive distillation column, it is reported that about 99% conversion of glycerol into triacetin is observed. This triacetin acts as an additive in compression engine fuels and reduced

Isomerization is a process in which one molecule is transformed into another molecule which has exactly the same atom, but they have different arrangements. A-isophorone and b-isophorone in spite of being isomers can be very well separated

Oligomerization is a chemical process that converts monomers to macromolecular complexes through a finite degree of polymerization. Oligomer esters and acid were hydrolyzed using RD technology, and the results were consistent with indus-

Product purity is an ultimate customer requirement. If these are not fulfilled or low-quality product is supplied to the customer, the expectation of the customer will not be fulfilled. For this reason, quality parameters need to be defined. These parameters are differing in different cases. For example, few quality indexes like physical and chemical characteristics of the product, medicinal effects, toxicity, and

by reactive distillation as there is a large difference in their volatilities.

generally for glycerol to obtain acetol. This reaction is usually carried into the presence of various metallic catalysts like alumina, magnesium, ruthenium, nickel, platinum, palladium, copper, Raney nickel, etc. Single-stage and two-stage reactive distillation techniques are being employed, and special care is being taken to regenerate these catalysts as they are classified as precious and non-precious catalysts.

Reactive Distillation: Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85433
