Analysis of a bio-plasticizer production unit from biodiesel

Phtalates constitutes the 70 % of the overall plasticizer production. Despite their unique physicochemical properties, most of the esters of phthalic acid pose health concerns and lead the European Union to restrict their amount in plastic to a level below the 0.1 % by weight in June 2017. Toxic phthalates may be substituted by epoxidized soybean biodiesel (ESB). Although ESB are comparable to commercial bioplasticizers in terms of oxygen content, no information is available for the cost of a unit operation to produce ESB. In this work, we model the epoxidation reaction of soybean biodiesel and we simulate a unit operation that produces ESB. A Python script calls iteratively a PRO/II 9.3 simulation file that numerically solves the mass balances. A MATLAB 2017b script solves the kinetic equations. We estimate the operative and capital costs, and we identify the best techno-economic ESB production conditions for the explored range of reaction parameters.