DefinePK

Abstract

Green economic revolution is a system that brings about improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing carbon emissions, enhancing energy efficiency and lessening environmental degradation. One of its sectors is renewable energy production, which is energy development from naturally replenished resources. Renewable energy types include solar power, wind power, hydroelectricity, biomass and biofuels. The most common biofuel is biodiesel, which can be produced from oils/fats using transesterification process or from fatty acids using esterification process. The process of biodiesel production can be simulated with the aid of a process simulator via either the conventional method of a reaction followed by separation or an integrated method known as reactive distillation. To demonstrate the simulation, this work has been carried out to achieve production of biodiesel for green economic revolution using the two methods with the aid of Aspen HYSYS process simulator. The performances of the two methods in biodiesel production were evaluated, and it was discovered that reactive distillation approach was more efficient and effective than the conventional one because more amount, and, of course, better purity, of biodiesel was given by the reactive distillation process compared to the conventional method. Thus, Aspen HYSYS has been successfully applied in analysing biodiesel production by the two methods to know which of the alternatives the best is effectively and efficiently. It is, therefore, recommended that scientists should apply the process simulator to study chemical reactions prior to any laboratory experiment.