Technical and Economic Analysis of Conventional and Supercritical Transesterification for Biofuel Production

The transesterification process with potassium hydroxide (KOH) catalyst and the methanol supercritical process were evaluated by Aspen HYSYS software. Castor oil and methanol were used as feed and alcohol. In order to accomplish verification, the simulation results were compared to a laboratory research. For economic analysis, these results were transferred to Aspen Economic Analyzer software. Piping and process equipment cost were calculated for the two processes. Additionally, direct and indirect costs of these processes were estimated.