Min Oo Ye, Somnuk Krit
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand.
Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand; Energy Technology Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90110, Thailand.
Ultrason Sonochem. 2023 Aug;98:106472. doi: 10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106472. Epub 2023 Jun 9.
A continuous esterification process is employed to decrease the free fatty acid (FFA) concentration of FFA-rich mixed crude palm oil. Both optimal and recommended conditions are determined for the esterification reaction conditions and the geometry of the 3D-printed rotor design in the rotor-stator hydrodynamic cavitation reactor. This study is primarily concerned with the effect of the cavitation device configuration, especially the rotor design, on FFA reduction. Instead of conventional spherical or cylindrical drilled holes, a point angle cone-shaped hole is used to create cavities over the rotor surface. These point angles are adjusted to clarify their effect on FFA reduction. The response surface methodology is applied to determine the optimal concentrations of methanol and sulfuric acid, rotor speed, hole diameter and depth, and cone point angle. The recommended conditions are 20.8 wt% methanol, 2.6 wt% sulfuric acid, 3000 rpm, 5 mm hole diameter, 5 mm hole depth, and 110°, respectively. Under this configuration, the FFA content is reduced from 12.014 wt% to around 1 wt%. A maximum yield of 97.34 vol% esterified oil is obtained through a completed phase separation step, and 93.31 vol% pure oil is collected after the cleansing step. The recommended conditions result in reduced chemical usage, cheaper FFA reduction, and lower environmental impact. This creative rotor design effectively improves our understanding of the geometry of the cavitation device, thus enhancing the cavitation effect in industrial operations.
采用连续酯化工艺降低富含游离脂肪酸（FFA）的混合粗棕榈油中的游离脂肪酸浓度。确定了转子-定子水力空化反应器中酯化反应条件和3D打印转子设计几何形状的最佳和推荐条件。本研究主要关注空化装置配置，特别是转子设计对游离脂肪酸降低的影响。转子表面采用尖角锥形孔代替传统的球形或圆柱形钻孔来产生空化。调整这些尖角以阐明其对游离脂肪酸降低的影响。应用响应面法确定甲醇和硫酸的最佳浓度、转子转速、孔径和深度以及锥角。推荐条件分别为20.8 wt%甲醇、2.6 wt%硫酸、3000 rpm、5 mm孔径、5 mm孔深和110°。在此配置下，游离脂肪酸含量从12.014 wt%降至约1 wt%。通过完整的相分离步骤获得酯化油的最大产率为97.34 vol%，清洗步骤后收集到93.31 vol%的纯油。推荐条件减少了化学用量，降低了游离脂肪酸降低成本，并降低了环境影响。这种创新的转子设计有效地增进了我们对空化装置几何形状的理解，从而增强了工业操作中的空化效果。
