Monitoring of Biodiesel Transesterification Process Using Impedance Measurement

Abstract

Transesterification is commonly used to produce biodiesel from methylester. In order to control the conversion process it is often useful to employ process monitoring and in particular monitor the mass transfer processes that limit the initial reaction rates. Such monitoring of the initial phase of reaction may provide opportunity for process optimization. Previous work has identified many methods to monitor reaction progress. This paper proposes the use of a simple method which is able to provide information regarding the progress of mass transfer and chemical reaction during biodiesel production. The process uses impedance measurement. The experimentally determined impedance results clearly show the two important phases of the transesterification reaction, a mass transfer control phase followed by a kinetically controlled phase