BayFAME®

The Process

The multi-stage concept offers a flexible process design, which ensures that feedstocks with any FFA content up to 100 wt% can be processed with an optimum yield and minimum manufacturing costs. While for low FFA concentrations a single reaction stage is sufficient to reduce the FFA concentration to a level as low as 0.1 wt%, a 3-stage process will cover the complete spectrum up to 100 wt% FFA.

The process has been designed with the target to preferentially employ robust and simple process equipment, which minimizes investment costs and operating complexity. The core part of each reaction stage will be a continuous flow reactor containing a fixed bed of the heterogeneous esterification with AMBERLYST™ BD20 catalyst. After each reaction stage water is removed by evaporation together with most of the methanol excess. The resulting wet methanol stream is dried by distillation before being recycled and reused for further esterification of fresh FFA. In case multiple reaction stages are employed, the methanol will not be removed after the last stage. The final esterification product including excess methanol can be directly sent into a downstream transesterification unit. This will reduce the methanol requirement in the transesterification and also reduce the heat requirement for methanol drying. In multi-stage process configurations the energy demand will be further optimized by heat integration between the evaporator stages and the methanol drying column.