Exergetic Analysis of Biodiesel Production Routes

Abstract

Biodiesel is a possible successor to conventional diesel. Several methods, with the most varied raw materials and different routes, are available in the literature, directed to the production of biodiesel. In this way, the objective of this work was to evaluate the energetic conversion process from two routes: via basic homogeneous catalysis and via heterogeneous acid catalysis. The purpose of the study was to verify which of the two routes spends (or destroys, from the exergetic point of view) less energy. Since the route that destroys less energy becomes more energetically viable than the other. Due to the particularity of each method, the operational parameters were different, but for a concise analysis, the same raw materials were used for both cases.