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CUSTOM DESIGNED ALGAE SYSTEMS SMALL- MEDIUM-LARGE-&-TURNKEY SYSTEMS    Ultrasonic Transesterification of Oil to Biodiesel Ultrasonication increases the chemical reaction speed of the transesterification of vegetable oils and animal fats into biodiesel. This allows to change the production from batch processing to continuous flow processing and it reduces investment and operational costs. Biodiesel is commonly produced in batch reactors using heat and mechanical mixing as energy input. Ultrasonic cavitational mixing is an effective alternative means to achieve a better mixing in commercial processing. Ultrasonic cavitation provides the necessary activation energy for the industrial transesterification process. Transesterification (Chemical Conversion of Biodiesel) The manufacturing of biodiesel from vegetable oils (e.g. soy, canola, jatropha, sunflower seed or algae) or animal fats, involves the base-catalyzed transesterification of fatty acids with methanol or ethanol to give the corresponding methyl esters or ethyl esters. Glycerin is an inevitable byproduct of this reaction. Vegetable oils as animal fats are triglycerides composed of three chains of fatty acids bound by a glycerin molecule. Triglycerides are esters. Esters are acids, like fatty acids, combined with an alcohol. Glycerine (= glycerol) is a heavy alcohol. In the conversion process triglyceride esters are turned into alkyl esters (= biodiesel) using a catalyst (lye) and an alcohol reagent, e.g. methanol, which yields methyl esters biodiesel. The methanol replaces the glycerin. The glycerine - the heavier phase - will sink to the bottom. Biodiesel - the lighter phase - floats on top and can be separated, e.g. by decanters or centrifuges. This conversion process is called transesterification. The conventional esterification reaction in batch processing tends to be slow, and phase separation of the glycerin is time-consuming, often taking 5 hours or more. Ultrasonic Processing Today, biodiesel is primarily produced in batch reactors. Ultrasound allows for the continuous inline processing. Ultrasonication can achieve a biodiesel yield in excess of 99%. Ultrasound reduces the processing time from the conventional 1 to 4 hour batch processing to less than 30 seconds. More important, ultrasonication reduces the separation time from 5 to 10 hours (using conventional agitation) to less than 60 minutes. The ultrasonication does also help to decrease to amount of catalyst required by up to 50% due to the increased chemical activity in the presence of cavitation. When using ultrasonication the amount of excess alcohol required is reduced, too. Another benefit is the resulting increase in the purity of the glycerin.