Modified reactive distillation for producing biodiesel

Biodiesel production can efficiently take place using simple vegetable oils. These oils, the source for triglycerides, are combined with continuously flowing methanol in a pre-reactor. This combination is placed into a continuous flow reactor where the addition of methanol occurs continuously. The resulting liquid from this reaction is biodiesel, however still with numerous impurities including and most excessively, methanol. Upon production of biodiesel, this product can then be directed into a distillation column for effective removal of methanol based on the high variance among boiling points of methanol and biodiesel. The removed methanol can then be recycled and reused directly in the reaction. If the biodiesel flow rate into the distillation column is controlled at a slow enough rate, the methanol can be successfully removed in a way that allows for proper removal of a more pure form of biodiesel. Removal of the distilled biodiesel product and recycling of the methanol condensate allows for a continuous reactive distillation apparatus to be both set up and ran efficiently.