Awogbemi Omojola, Kallon Daramy Vandi Von
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Technology, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 524, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2022 Jul 27;9(8):347. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering9080347.
The need to arrest the continued environmental contamination and degradation associated with the consumption of fossil-based fuels has continued to serve as an impetus for the increased utilization of renewable fuels. The demand for biodiesel has continued to escalate in the past few decades due to urbanization, industrialization, and stringent government policies in favor of renewable fuels for diverse applications. One of the strategies for ensuring the intensification, commercialization, and increased utilization of biodiesel is the adaptation of reactor technologies, especially tubular reactors. The current study reviewed the deployment of different types and configurations of tubular reactors for the acceleration of biodiesel production. The feedstocks, catalysts, conversion techniques, and modes of biodiesel conversion by reactor technologies are highlighted. The peculiarities, applications, merits, drawbacks, and instances of biodiesel synthesis through a packed bed, fluidized bed, trickle bed, oscillatory flow, and micro-channel tubular reactor technologies are discussed to facilitate a better comprehension of the mechanisms behind the technology. Indeed, the deployment of the transesterification technique in tubular reactor technologies will ensure the ecofriendly, low-cost, and large-scale production of biodiesel, a high product yield, and will generate high-quality biodiesel. The outcome of this study will enrich scholarship and stimulate a renewed interest in the application of tubular reactors for large-scale biodiesel production among biodiesel refiners and other stakeholders. Going forward, the use of innovative technologies such as robotics, machine learning, smart metering, artificial intelligent, and other modeling tools should be deployed to monitor reactor technologies for biodiesel production.
遏制与化石燃料消费相关的持续环境污染和退化的需求，一直是推动可再生燃料利用增加的动力。在过去几十年里，由于城市化、工业化以及政府支持可再生燃料用于各种用途的严格政策，生物柴油的需求持续攀升。确保生物柴油强化、商业化和提高利用率的策略之一是采用反应器技术，特别是管式反应器。本研究回顾了不同类型和配置的管式反应器在加速生物柴油生产方面的应用。重点介绍了原料、催化剂、转化技术以及通过反应器技术进行生物柴油转化的方式。讨论了通过填充床、流化床、滴流床、振荡流和微通道管式反应器技术进行生物柴油合成的特点、应用、优点、缺点及实例，以促进对该技术背后机制的更好理解。事实上，在管式反应器技术中采用酯交换技术将确保生物柴油的生态友好、低成本和大规模生产，实现高产品收率，并生产出高质量的生物柴油。本研究结果将丰富学术研究，并激发生物柴油精炼商和其他利益相关者对管式反应器在大规模生物柴油生产中的应用重新产生兴趣。展望未来，应采用机器人技术、机器学习、智能计量、人工智能和其他建模工具等创新技术来监测生物柴油生产的反应器技术。
