Glycerolysis of Fatty Acid Methyl Esters: 2. Simulation and Experiments in Continuous Reactors

Abstract The glycerolysis of methyl ester was investigated in flow reactors. This reaction represents a liquid two‐phase reaction with changing reaction rates in a batch reactor. A semi‐empirical model tested earlier with batch reactor data was used to simulate different continuous processes for this reaction. Among the processes simulated, a single continuous‐flow stirred tank reactor (CSTR) without recycling was considered most appropriate for experimental implementation, although simulations showed that a faster reaction rate is possible with the application of a CSTR followed by a tubular reactor with certain associated residence times. The CSTR simulations were verified experimentally. A good agreement was found between the experimental data and simulation results.