Conventional transesterification processes not only require large amounts of methanol and catalysts but are also time-consuming and operate at high temperatures. Advanced methods such as non-thermal plasma have been studied for biodiesel production because they mainly reduce the temperature as well as the reaction time. In this study, a liquid-phase capillary discharge plasma reactor was developed for the continuous production of biodiesel from sunflower oil at ambient temperature and pressure. The four main operational parameters were examined each with three levels, including molar ratio (4, 6, 8), catalyst concentration (0.5, 1, 1.5 wt%), applied voltage (10, 15, 20 kV), and reactant flowrate (2, 4, 6 ml/s). The response surface method (RSM) was used to optimize FAME content. The results show that the capillary discharge reactor is possible to continuously produce 95.9 % methyl ester content (FAME- content) in a MeOH/oil molar ratio of 6.2:1, catalyst concentration of 1.2 wt%, applied voltage of 18 kV and flow rate of 4.6 ml/s. The power consumed in this process was 46.16 kJ/lit. These results indicate that the studied technology is able to continuously produce methyl ester with high conversion efficiency at low temperatures and with minimum amounts of inputs compared to common methods.

传统的酯交换工艺不仅需要大量的甲醇和催化剂，而且耗时长且操作温度高。非热等离子体等先进方法已被研究用于生物柴油生产，因为它们主要降低温度和反应时间。在这项研究中，开发了一种液相毛细管放电等离子体反应器，用于在环境温度和压力下从向日葵油中连续生产生物柴油。对四个主要操作参数分别进行了三个水平的检查，包括摩尔比（4、6、8）、催化剂浓度（0.5、1、1.5 wt%）、施加电压（10、15、20 kV）和反应物流速（ 2、4、6 毫升/秒）。响应面法 (RSM) 用于优化 FAME 含量。结果表明，在甲醇/油摩尔比为 6.2:1、催化剂浓度为 1.2 wt%、施加电压为 18 kV 和流速的条件下，毛细管放电反应器可以连续生产 95.9% 的甲酯含量（FAME- 含量） 4.6 毫升/秒。在此过程中消耗的功率为 46.16 kJ/lit。这些结果表明，与常规方法相比，所研究的技术能够在低温下以最少的投入量连续生产甲酯，转化效率高。