Vegetable Oil Refining, Biodiesel, and Oleochemical Conversion

Nomenclature

Unless stated otherwise, quantities are expressed in SI units. Symbols used only inside a chemical equation are defined in the accompanying text.

Symbol	Definition	SI unit or status
a	Specific interfacial area	m²/m³
A	Flow cross sectional area	m²
AV	Acid value	mg KOH/g
C	Bulk concentration	application dependent
C*	Equilibrium or interfacial concentration	application dependent
CH	Breakup constant	dimensionless
cp	Specific heat capacity	J/(kg K)
CFD	Computational fluid dynamics	abbreviation
d	Droplet diameter	m
d₃₂	Sauter mean diameter	m
dmax	Maximum stable droplet diameter	m
Da	Damköhler number	dimensionless
Dh	Hydraulic diameter	m
Ea	Activation energy	J/mol
Eon	Energy per on specification product	kWh/t
es	Specific electrical energy	J/kg or kWh/t
FAME	Fatty acid methyl esters	abbreviation
$f_{ex}$	Caustic excess factor	dimensionless
g	Gravitational acceleration	m/s²
k	Reaction rate constant	time⁻¹
k0	Arrhenius preexponential factor	time⁻¹
kL	Liquid side mass transfer coefficient	m/s
kLa	Volumetric mass transfer coefficient	s⁻¹
m	Mass	kg
m annual	Annual feed throughput	kg/year or t/year
ṁ	Mass flow rate	kg/s
M	Molar mass	kg/mol
Np	Average number of passes	dimensionless
NPV	Net present value	currency
NPSH	Net positive suction head	m
Oh	Ohnesorge number	dimensionless
p	Static pressure	Pa
pref	Reference pressure	Pa
pv	Saturation vapor pressure	Pa
$P_{hyd}$	Hydraulic power	W
P el	Electrical input power	W
Q	Volumetric flow rate	m³/s
R	Bubble radius or universal gas constant according to context	m or J/(mol K)
Re	Reynolds number	dimensionless
SPR	Shockwave power reactor	abbreviation
t	Time	s
TAG	Triacylglycerol	abbreviation
u	Mean liquid velocity	m/s
urel	Characteristic relative velocity	m/s
V	Liquid volume or economic value according to context	m³ or currency
V net	Annual net recoverable value	currency/year
We	Weber number	dimensionless
X	Fractional conversion	dimensionless
Y	Yield	dimensionless or percent
z	Elevation	m

Greek Letters

Symbol	Name	Meaning	SI unit
γ	Gamma	Interfacial tension	N/m
Δ	Delta	Finite change such as pressure drop or temperature rise	context dependent
ε	Epsilon	Turbulent energy dissipation rate per unit mass	W/kg
ηₚ	Eta	Pump efficiency	dimensionless
μ	Mu	Dynamic viscosity	Pa s
ν	Nu	Stoichiometric coefficient	dimensionless
φ	Phi	Dispersed phase volume fraction	dimensionless
ρ	Rho	Density	kg/m³
σc	Sigma	Cavitation number	dimensionless
τ	Tau	Residence time	s