Chemical Process Involved in Biodiesel Production

[aishu]

After the alcohol is removed, how is it further purified.. How is the methyl ester removed??

Once separated from the glycerin, the biodiesel is sometimes purified by washing gently with warm water to remove residual catalyst or soaps, dried, and sent to storage.

This is normally the end of the production process resulting in a clear amber-yellow liquid with a viscosity similar to petrodiesel. In some systems the biodiesel is distilled in an additional step to remove small amounts of color bodies to produce a colorless biodiesel.

[Mak]

tranesterificiation reaction gives rise to two products - glycerin n biodiesel.. Both these have high alcohol content rite, how is this alcohol removed??

Once the glycerin and biodiesel phases have been separated, the excess alcohol in eachphase is removed with a flash evaporation process or by distillation.

How expensive is this process.. is it economically feasible???