Abstract
Biodiesel (fatty acid alkyl esters), which is produced from sustainable resources such as vegetable oil, animal fat and waste oils, have used to as substitutes for petro-diesel. In this study, we investigate the performance of 30 L and 300 L pilot-scale biodiesel production system using alkali-catalyst transesterification from soybean oil and rapeseed oil produced at Jeju island in Korea. The 30 L-scale biodiesel production was performed to in the condition of reaction temperature $65^{\circ}C$, catalyst amount 1% (w/w) and oil to methanol molar ratio 1 : 8. At that reaction condition, the fatty acid methyl ester contents of product are above 98% within reaction time 30 min. Also, the conversion yield of over 98% was obtained in 300 L-scale biodiesel production system using rapeseed oil and soybean oil. The quality of biodiesel produced from reaction system was satisfied to recommended quality standard of Korea. Our results may provide useful information with regard to the scale-up of more economic and efficient biodiesel production process.
