Simulation and Economic Study of Biodiesel Production from Animal Fat Wastes

The objective of this research was the design and economic study of biodiesel production from animal fat. Nowadays, biodiesel is mostly produced from edible sources such as soybean. Wastes of tallow as an abundant, cheap, and inedible source can be used instead of these sources. High amounts of free fatty acid of animal fats are why the process needs to be performed in two sections, namely esterification and transesterification reactions, and the purification process was conducted by water washing in an extraction column. The simulation results of Aspen Hysys software shows the production of 5000 kg of biodiesel of 5000 kg of tallow. Additionally, glycerol was purified as a by-product of the process. Aspen Icarus software was used for the economic study of the process and the economic results by Aspen Icarus software shows that the NPV is M$ 4.733 after 10 years, which confirms that this design is cost-effective. Furthermore, the payback period from the plant start-up is 7.7 years.