The technical and economic evaluation of biodiesel production processes from different vegetable oils

Human being has been always thinking to apply renewable energy due to limited resources of energy. Therefore, alternative fuels have been chosen based on the following characteristics: environmental sustainability, being competitive with fossil fuels, technical justification, and easy production. In this research, various biodiesel production processes are simulated and technically analyzed using Aspen HYSYS. Then, the related flowsheets have been economically analyzed by Aspen Capital Cost Estimator (Icarus). Finally, the present net values have also been estimated by means of parameters such as the cost and sale values of vegetable oils, glycerol, NA(3)PO(4), H(3)PO(4,)and biodiesel based on the interest rates. Considering these analyses, prediction procedures, equations of capital cost estimation, and net present value were developed. According to the analysis, the use of palm oils is more appropriate than other oils for biodiesel production because its ROR (36.01%) is higher than soybean oil (27.64%) and olive oil (3.39%). According to the calculated ROR values, palm oil and soybean oil have scored the highest rate of return, respectively.