Construção de uma planta didática para a produção de biodiesel

Abstract

This work aims to provide knowledge about the processes and inputs used to obtain biodiesel, as well as to point out the operating characteristics of the equipment used in its production, with the objective of building a low-cost didactic plant. For that, the work presents some definitions about biodiesel, its main raw materials, as well as the production processes and its quality specifications, according to tables of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. From this approach, a set of parts and equipment necessary for the construction of this didactic plant was defined. In the same way, the selection of which inputs would be used for the production of biodiesel in this equipment was made. Once the materials, equipment and the operating process were defined, the pilot plant was built and batches of biodiesel were produced to certify the operation of the equipment and the selected process. Through the phase separation, it can be seen that the equipment and parameters used are functional. However, the lack of instruments to measure the quality of biodiesel opens a gap for future changes in these parameters.