Process improvements

Researchers in The University of Texas at Arlington College of Engineering have developed a microreactor that will reduce the time needed to process biodiesel fuel. The process will also reduce the cost of production by as much at 30-to-40 cents per gallon.

“This is an amazing breakthrough,” said Associate Dean of Engineering – Research Dr. Richard Billo. “The microreactor can take what is now a 90-minute process to convert vegetable oil to biodiesel fuel and reduce it to less than four minutes, even down to as little as six seconds, depending on some beginning variables. We’ve developed the cost analysis and conducted pilot experiments, and the savings in time and money are both phenomenal and realistic.”

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor Brian Dennis developed the microreactor, which creates a continuous production of biodiesel. Because the mixing of the reactants takes place on a microscale, the complete chemical reaction is much faster than in a traditional batch reactor. When many microreactors are used in parallel, one large operation can produce the same amount of biodiesel per year as a traditional batch production plant. But whereas traditional plants costs tens of millions of dollars, the microreactor will be the size of a small suitcase and cost on the order of hundreds of dollars.