Biodiesel production through lipase catalyzed transesterification: An overview

Heterogeneous basic catalysts for biodiesel production

We review the recent advances in the synthesis and utilization of heterogeneous basic catalysts for biodiesel production.

ESolvent-free, enzyme-catalyzed biodiesel production from mango, neem, and shea oils via response surface methodology

Mango, neem and shea kernels produce non-conventional oils whose potentials are not fully exploited. To give an added value to these oils, they were transesterified into biodiesel in a solvent-free system using immobilized enzyme lipozyme from Mucor miehei. The Doehlert experimental design was used to evaluate the methyl ester (ME) yields as influenced by enzyme concentration-EC, temperature-T, added water content-AWC, and reaction time-RT. Biodiesel yields were quantified by (1)H NMR spectroscopy and subsequently modeled by a second order polynomial equation with interactions. Lipozyme enzymes were more tolerant to high temperatures in neem and shea oils reaction media compared to that of mango oil. The optimum reaction conditions EC, T, AWC, and RT assuring near complete conversion were as follows: mango oil 7.25 %, 36.6 °C, 10.9 %, 36.4 h; neem oil EC = 7.19 %, T = 45.7 °C, AWC = 8.43 %, RT = 25.08 h; and shea oil EC = 4.43 %, T = 45.65 °C, AWC = 6.21 % and RT = 25.08 h. Validation experiments of these optimum conditions gave ME yields of 98.1 ± 1.0, 98.5 ± 1.6 and 99.3 ± 0.4 % for mango, neem and shea oils, respectively, which all met ASTM biodiesel standards.

Bacillus sp. PS35 Lipase-Immobilization on Styrene-Divinyl Benzene Resin and Application in Fatty Acid Methyl Ester Synthesis

BACKGROUND

Lipase is an enzyme with immense application potential. Ester synthesis by lipase catalysis in organic media is an area of key industrial relevance. Enzymatic preparations with traits that cater to the needs of this function are hence being intensely researched.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the study were to immobilize the lipase from Bacillus sp. PS35 by cross-linking and adsorption onto styrene-divinyl benzene (Sty-Dvb) hydrophobic resin and to comparatively characterize the free and immobilized lipase preparations. The work also aimed to apply the immobilized lipase for catalysing the fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) synthesis from palm oil and optimize the process parameters for maximizing the yield.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this study, the purified lipase from Bacillus sp. PS35 was immobilized by adsorption onto styrene-divinyl benzene hydrophobic resin with gluteraldehyde cross-linking.

RESULTS

The immobilized enzyme showed better pH and temperature stabilities than the free lipase. Organic solvent stability was also enhanced, with the relative activity in the presence of methanol being shifted from 53% to 81%, thereby facilitating the enzyme's application in fatty acid methyl ester synthesis. It exhibited remarkable storage stability over a 30-day period and after 20 repetitive uses. Cross-linking also reduced enzyme leakage by 49%. The immobilized lipase was then applied for biodiesel production from palm oil. Methanol and oil molar ratio of 5:1, three step methanol additions, and an incubation temperature of 50°C were established to be the ideal conditions favoring the transesterification reaction, resulting in 97% methyl ester yield.

CONCLUSIONS

These promising results offer scope for further investigation and process scale up, permitting the enzyme's commercial application in a practically feasible and economically agreeable manner.

Saturation mutagenesis in selected amino acids to shift Pseudomonas sp. acidic lipase Lip I.3 substrate specificity and activity

Several Pseudomonas sp. CR611 Lip I.3 mutants with overall increased activity and a shift towards longer chain substrates were constructed. Substitution of residues Y29 and W310 by smaller amino acids provided increased activity on C18-substrates. Residues G152 and S154, modified to study their influence on interfacial activation, displayed a five and eleven fold increased activity.

Two-step biocatalytic process using lipase and whole cell catalysts for biodiesel production from unrefined jatropha oil

OBJECTIVE

To avoid lipase deactivation by methanol in the enzymatic transesterification process, a two-step biocatalytic process for biodiesel production from unrefined jatropha oil was developed.

RESULTS

Unrefined jatropha oil was first hydrolyzed to free fatty acids (FFAs) by the commercial enzyme Candida rugosa lipase. The maximum yield achieved of FFAs 90.3% at 40 °C, water/oil ratio 0.75:1 (v/v), lipase content 2% (w/w) after 8 h reaction. After hydrolysis, the FFAs were separated and converted to biodiesel by using Rhizopus oryzae IFO4697 cells immobilized within biomass support particles as a whole-cell biocatalyst. Molecular sieves (3 Å) were added to the esterification reaction mixture to remove the byproduct water. The maximum fatty acid methyl ester yield reached 88.6% at 35 °C, molar ratio of methanol to FFAs 1.2:1, molecular sieves (3 Å) content 60% (w/w) after 42 h. In addition, both C. rugosa lipase and R. oryzae whole cell catalyst in the process showed excellent reusability, retaining 89 and 79% yields, respectively, even after six batches of reactions.

CONCLUSION

This novel process, combining the advantages of enzyme and whole cell catalysts, saved the consumption of commercial enzyme and avoid enzyme deactivation by methanol.

A new alkaline lipase obtained from the metagenome of marine sponge Ircinia sp

Microorganisms associated with marine sponges are potential resources for marine enzymes. In this study, culture-independent metagenomic approach was used to isolate lipases from the complex microbiome of the sponge Ircinia sp. obtained from the South China Sea. A metagenomic library was constructed, containing 6568 clones, and functional screening on 1 % tributyrin agar resulted in the identification of a positive lipase clone (35F4). Following sequence analysis 35F4 clone was found to contain a putative lipase gene lipA. Sequence analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence of LipA revealed that it is a member of subfamily I.1 of lipases, with 63 % amino acid similarity to the lactonizing lipase from Aeromonas veronii (WP_021231793). Based on the predicted secondary structure, LipA was predicted to be an alkaline enzyme by sequence/structure analysis. Heterologous expression of lipA in E. coli BL21 (DE3) was performed and the characterization of the recombinant enzyme LipA showed that it is an alkaline enzyme with high tolerance to organic solvents. The isolated lipase LipA was active in the broad alkaline range, with the highest activity at pH 9.0, and had a high level of stability over a pH range of 7.0-12.0. The activity of LipA was increased in the presence of 5 mM Ca(2+) and some organic solvents, e.g. methanol, acetone and isopropanol. The optimum temperature for the activity of LipA is 40 °C and the molecular weight of LipA was determined to be ~30 kDa by SDS-PAGE. LipA is an alkaline lipase and shows good tolerance to some organic solvents, which make it of potential utility in the detergent industry and enzyme mediated organic synthesis. The result of this study has broadened the diversity of known lipolytic genes and demonstrated that marine sponges are an important source for new enzymes.

Marine extremophiles: a source of hydrolases for biotechnological applications

The marine environment covers almost three quarters of the planet and is where evolution took its first steps. Extremophile microorganisms are found in several extreme marine environments, such as hydrothermal vents, hot springs, salty lakes and deep-sea floors. The ability of these microorganisms to support extremes of temperature, salinity and pressure demonstrates their great potential for biotechnological processes. Hydrolases including amylases, cellulases, peptidases and lipases from hyperthermophiles, psychrophiles, halophiles and piezophiles have been investigated for these reasons. Extremozymes are adapted to work in harsh physical-chemical conditions and their use in various industrial applications such as the biofuel, pharmaceutical, fine chemicals and food industries has increased. The understanding of the specific factors that confer the ability to withstand extreme habitats on such enzymes has become a priority for their biotechnological use. The most studied marine extremophiles are prokaryotes and in this review, we present the most studied archaea and bacteria extremophiles and their hydrolases, and discuss their use for industrial applications.

Colorimetric assay for heterogeneous-catalyzed lipase activity: enzyme-regulated gold nanoparticle aggregation

Lipase is a neglected enzyme in the field of gold nanoparticle-based enzyme assays. This paper reports a novel colorimetric probe to rapidly visualize lipase activities by using Tween 20 functioned GNPs (Tween 20-GNPs) as a reporter. The present strategy hence could overcome the limitations caused by the heterogeneous interface in lipase assay. Catalytic hydrolytic cleavage of the ester bond in Tween 20-GNPs by lipase will trigger the rapid aggregation of GNPs at a high salt solution. The color change from red to purple could be used to sense the activity of lipase. The detection limit (3σ) is as low as 2.8 × 10-2 mg/mL. A preliminary enzyme activity screening was carried out for seven commercially purchased lipase samples. It also has been successfully applied to detecting lipase in fermentation broth of Bacillus subtilis without any pretreatment.

Dynamics of the lipid droplet proteome of the Oleaginous yeast rhodosporidium toruloides

Lipid droplets (LDs) are ubiquitous organelles that serve as a neutral lipid reservoir and a hub for lipid metabolism. Manipulating LD formation, evolution, and mobilization in oleaginous species may lead to the production of fatty acid-derived biofuels and chemicals. However, key factors regulating LD dynamics remain poorly characterized. Here we purified the LDs and identified LD-associated proteins from cells of the lipid-producing yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides cultured under nutrient-rich, nitrogen-limited, and phosphorus-limited conditions. The LD proteome consisted of 226 proteins, many of which are involved in lipid metabolism and LD formation and evolution. Further analysis of our previous comparative transcriptome and proteome data sets indicated that the transcription level of 85 genes and protein abundance of 77 proteins changed under nutrient-limited conditions. Such changes were highly relevant to lipid accumulation and partially confirmed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. We demonstrated that the major LD structure protein Ldp1 is an LD marker protein being upregulated in lipid-rich cells. When overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Ldp1 localized on the LD surface and facilitated giant LD formation, suggesting that Ldp1 plays an important role in controlling LD dynamics. Our results significantly advance the understanding of the molecular basis of lipid overproduction and storage in oleaginous yeasts and will be valuable for the development of superior lipid producers.

Facile synthesis and stereo-resolution of chiral 1,2,3-triazoles

We describe herein the first facile synthesis of chiral triazoles through side chain functionalization.

Highly efficient enzymatic biodiesel production promoted by particle-induced emulsification

BACKGROUND

At present, the conversion of oils to biodiesel is predominantly carried out using chemical catalysts. However, the corresponding lipase-catalysed process has important advantages, which include mild reaction conditions and the possibility of using cheap, low quality feedstocks with a high free fatty acid content. Further increases in the efficiency of the enzymatic process are desired to make it even more attractive and suitable for large-scale applications.

RESULTS

Herein, we present a simple and efficient two-phase lipase-catalysed system for the preparation of biodiesel in which different parameters (biocatalyst composition, ethanol concentration and the presence of additives) were optimised in order to obtain the maximum productivity starting from triolein with a high free oleic acid content. In the two-phase system, the enzyme tolerated high-ethanol concentrations, which made it possible to reach high conversions. The addition of silica particles increased the reaction rate substantially. It was suggested that such particles can catalyse acyl migration as a step to the full conversion to glycerol and biodiesel. However, in the system studied here, the effect of the particles was shown to be due to the formation of smaller and more uniform emulsion droplets leading to better mass transfer between the two phases. Particles of widely different size had positive effects, and the highest rate was obtained with silica particles derivatised with phenyl groups. The optimal conditions were applied to the solvent-free ethanolysis of rapeseed oil, and a yield of 96% was reached in 5 h. Under the mild conditions used, chemical catalysts were inefficient.

CONCLUSIONS

Triacylglycerol oils with a high free fatty acid content can be efficiently converted to ethyl esters using Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase as the catalyst in an aqueous/organic two-phase system. Fast mass transfer can be achieved using silica particles, which helped to decrease the size of the emulsion droplets and thus led to a more efficient process. The high-ethanol concentration tolerated by the lipase in this system made it possible to reach almost quantitative yields.

Immobilized lipase from Schizophyllum commune ISTL04 for the production of fatty acids methyl esters from cyanobacterial oil

Novel lipase from model mushroom Schizophyllum commune strain ISTL04 produced by solid state fermentation of Leucaena leucocephala seeds, was immobilized onto Celite for enzymatic FAMEs production from cyanobacterial endolith Leptolyngbya ISTCY101. The isolate showed vigorous growth and produced remarkable lipase activity of 146.5 U g(-1) dry solid substrate, without any external lipase inducer. Single-factor experiments were carried out to study the effects of various reaction parameters on the FAMEs yield. The best conditions for enzymatic transesterification as revealed by the results were: 1:3 oil to methanol molar ratio, added at 3h intervals, 12% water content, 1581.5 U g(-1) immobilized lipase, temperature 45 °C, and time 24h. Under these conditions, the maximum FAMEs yield reached 94%. The immobilized lipase was able to produce >90% of the relative FAMEs yield after four repeated transesterification cycles. This immobilized lipase exhibited potential for application in biodiesel industry.

Magnetic Cross-Linked Enzyme Aggregates (mCLEAs) of Candida antarctica lipase: an efficient and stable biocatalyst for biodiesel synthesis

Enzyme-catalyzed production of biodiesel is the object of extensive research due to the global shortage of fossil fuels and increased environmental concerns. Herein we report the preparation and main characteristics of a novel biocatalyst consisting of Cross-Linked Enzyme Aggregates (CLEAs) of Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) which are covalently bound to magnetic nanoparticles, and tackle its use for the synthesis of biodiesel from non-edible vegetable and waste frying oils. For this purpose, insolubilized CALB was covalently cross-linked to magnetic nanoparticles of magnetite which the surface was functionalized with -NH2 groups. The resulting biocatalyst combines the relevant catalytic properties of CLEAs (as great stability and feasibility for their reutilization) and the magnetic character, and thus the final product (mCLEAs) are superparamagnetic particles of a robust catalyst which is more stable than the free enzyme, easily recoverable from the reaction medium and reusable for new catalytic cycles. We have studied the main properties of this biocatalyst and we have assessed its utility to catalyze transesterification reactions to obtain biodiesel from non-edible vegetable oils including unrefined soybean, jatropha and cameline, as well as waste frying oil. Using 1% mCLEAs (w/w of oil) conversions near 80% were routinely obtained at 30°C after 24 h of reaction, this value rising to 92% after 72 h. Moreover, the magnetic biocatalyst can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture and reused for at least ten consecutive cycles of 24 h without apparent loss of activity. The obtained results suggest that mCLEAs prepared from CALB can become a powerful biocatalyst for application at industrial scale with better performance than those currently available.

Selection and characterization of biofuel-producing environmental bacteria isolated from vegetable oil-rich wastes

Fossil fuels are consumed so rapidly that it is expected that the planet resources will be soon exhausted. Therefore, it is imperative to develop alternative and inexpensive new technologies to produce sustainable fuels, for example biodiesel. In addition to hydrolytic and esterification reactions, lipases are capable of performing transesterification reactions useful for the production of biodiesel. However selection of the lipases capable of performing transesterification reactions is not easy and consequently very few biodiesel producing lipases are currently available. In this work we first isolated 1,016 lipolytic microorganisms by a qualitative plate assay. In a second step, lipolytic bacteria were analyzed using a colorimetric assay to detect the transesterification activity. Thirty of the initial lipolytic strains were selected for further characterization. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 23 of the bacterial isolates were Gram negative and 7 were Gram positive, belonging to different clades. Biofuel production was analyzed and quantified by gas chromatography and revealed that 5 of the isolates produced biofuel with yields higher than 80% at benchtop scale. Chemical and viscosity analysis of the produced biofuel revealed that it differed from biodiesel. This bacterial-derived biofuel does not require any further downstream processing and it can be used directly in engines. The freeze-dried bacterial culture supernatants could be used at least five times for biofuel production without diminishing their activity. Therefore, these 5 isolates represent excellent candidates for testing biofuel production at industrial scale.

Ultrasound assisted enzymatic conversion of non edible oil to methyl esters

Conventional and ultrasound-assisted hydrolysis and subsequent esterification of Nagchampa oil under mild operating conditions have been investigated with an objective of intensification of methyl esters production using a sustainable approach. The effect of ratio of reactants, temperature, enzyme loading, pretreatment of enzyme (using ultrasonic irradiations) on the hydrolysis and esterification reaction has been studied. Optimum conditions for hydrolysis were observed to be 1:1 weight ratio of oil: water for Lip Z and 1:3 for Lip 2 enzymes, enzyme loading of 400 units for Lip Z and 800 mg for Lip 2 enzymes and reaction time of 6h. In the case of esterification reaction, optimum conditions obtained were oil to methanol molar ratio of 1:2, enzyme loading of 1000 mg and reaction time of 20 h. Use of pretreated enzyme (using ultrasonic irradiations) was found to increase the extent of esterification reaction from 75% to 92.5%. It was observed that use of ultrasound in the reaction significantly intensified the esterification reaction with time requirement reducing from 20 h for conventional stirring based approach to only about 7.5 h in the presence of ultrasound. The extent of esterification obtained with sonicated enzyme also increased to 96% from 75% with unsonicated enzyme.

Evaluation of styrene-divinylbenzene beads as a support to immobilize lipases

A commercial and very hydrophobic styrene-divinylbenzene matrix, MCI GEL^® CHP20P, has been compared to octyl-Sepharose^® beads as support to immobilize three different enzymes: lipases from Thermomyces lanuginosus (TLL) and from Rhizomucor miehie (RML) and Lecitase^® Ultra, a commercial artificial phospholipase. The immobilization mechanism on both supports was similar: interfacial activation of the enzymes versus the hydrophobic surface of the supports. Immobilization rate and loading capacity is much higher using MCI GEL^® CHP20P compared to octyl-Sepharose^® (87.2 mg protein/g of support using TLL, 310 mg/g using RML and 180 mg/g using Lecitase^® Ultra). The thermal stability of all new preparations is much lower than that of the standard octyl-Sepharose^® immobilized preparations, while the opposite occurs when the inactivations were performed in the presence of organic co-solvents. Regarding the hydrolytic activities, the results were strongly dependent on the substrate and pH of measurement. Octyl-Sepharose^® immobilized enzymes were more active versus p-NPB than the enzymes immobilized on MCI GEL^® CHP20P, while RML became 700-fold less active versus methyl phenylacetate. Thus, the immobilization of a lipase on this matrix needs to be empirically evaluated, since it may present very positive effects in some cases while in other cases it may have very negative ones.

Botryosphaeriales fungi produce extracellular enzymes with biotechnological potential

Phytopathogenic fungi are known for producing an arsenal of extracellular enzymes whose involvement in the infection mechanism has been suggested. However, these enzymes are largely unknown and their biotechnological potential also remains poorly understood. In this study, the production and thermostability of extracellular enzymes produced by phytopathogenic Botryosphaeriaceae was investigated. Hydrolytic and oxidative activities were detected and quantified at different temperatures. Most strains (70%; 37/53) were able to produce simultaneously cellulases, laccases, xylanases, pectinases, pectin lyases, amylases, lipases, and proteases. Surprisingly for mesophilic filamentous fungi, several enzymes proved to be thermostable: cellulases from Neofusicoccum mediterraneum CAA 001 and from Dothiorella prunicola CBS 124723, lipases from Diplodia pinea (CAA 015 and CBS 109726), and proteases from Melanops tulasnei CBS 116806 were more active at 70 °C than at any of the other temperatures tested. In addition, lipases produced by Diplodia pinea were found to be significantly more active than any other known lipase from Botryosphaeriales. The thermal activity profile and the wide array of activities secreted by these fungi make them optimal producers of biotechnologically relevant enzymes that may be applied in the food and the health industries (proteases), the pulp-and-paper and biofuel industries (cellulases), or even in the detergent industry (lipases, proteases, amylases, and cellulases).

Zinc metal-organic frameworks: efficient catalysts for the diastereoselective Henry reaction and transesterification

Three new compounds bearing different flexible side functional groups, viz. 2-acetamidoterephthalic acid (H2L1), 2-propionamidoterephthalic acid (H2L2) and 2-benzamidoterephthalic acid (H2L3), were synthesized and their coordination reactions with zinc(II) were studied. X-ray crystallography showed the formation of novel metal organic frameworks with different dimensionalities, where the side functional groups of amidoterephthalic acid and/or auxiliary ligands were found to play significant roles. These frameworks [Zn2(L1)2(4,4'-bipyridine)2(H2O)(DMF)]n (1), [Zn4(L2)3(OH)2(DMF)2(H2O)2]n (2) and [Zn(L3)(H2O)2]n·n/2(1,4-dioxane) (3) act as heterogeneous polymeric solid catalysts not only for the diastereoselective nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of different aldehydes with nitroalkanes but also for transesterification reactions. These MOF-based heterogeneous catalysts can be recycled without losing their activity.

New Lipase for Biodiesel Production: Partial Purification and Characterization of LipSB 25-4

The lipolytic activities of 300 Streptomyces isolates were determined in Tributyrin and Rhodamine-B Agar. Lipase activities were also measured with p-nitrophenyl palmitate (p-NPP) as a substrate. The strain of Streptomyces bambergiensis OC 25-4 used in this study was selected among 300 strains of Streptomyces from MUCC as the best lipase producer. The incubation conditions were optimized and the inoculum amount, incubation period, effect of carbon and nitrogen sources, and rates of MgSO₄ and CaCO₃ were investigated. LipSB 25-4 (the lipase produced by S. bambergiensis OC 25-4 strain) was partially purified with ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis, and gel filtration chromatography 2.73-fold and with 92.12 U/mg specific activity. The optimal pH and temperature for LipSB 25-4 were determined as 8.0 and 50°C, respectively. The lipase has high stability in all pH and temperature values used in this study. While LipSB 25-4 was slightly activated in the presence of β-mercaptoethanol, it was slightly reduced by PMSF. The enzyme conserved approximately 75% of its activity at the end of 60 h, in the presence of methanol and ethanol. Since LipSB 25-4 displays high activity in the thermophilic conditions and stability in the presence of organic solvents, this lipase can catalyse the biodiesel production from olive oil by the transesterification reactions.

Silk-Cocoon Matrix Immobilized Lipase Catalyzed Transesterification of Sunflower Oil for Production of Biodiesel

Biodiesel from sunflower oil using lipase chemically immobilized on silk-cocoon matrix in a packed-bed bioreactor was investigated. The immobilization was demonstrated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and activity study. The lipase loading was 738.74 U (~0.01 g lipase powder)/g-lipase-immobilized matrix. The Km (Michaelis-Menten constant) of the free and the immobilized lipase was 451.26 μM and 257.26 μM, respectively. Low Km value of the immobilized lipase is attributed to the hydrophobic nature of the matrix that facilitated the substrate diffusion to the enzyme surface. The biodiesel yield of 81.62% was obtained at 48 hours reaction time, 6 : 1 methanol : oil ratio (v/v), and 30°C. The immobilized lipase showed high operational stability at 30°C. The substrate conversion was only marginally decreased till third cycle (each of 48 hours duration) of the reaction since less than even 5% of the original activity was decreased in each of the second and third cycle. The findings demonstrated the potential of the silk-cocoon as lipase immobilization matrix for industrial production of biodiesel.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for production of fatty acid short-chain esters through combination of the fatty acid and 2-keto acid pathways

Fatty acid short-chain esters (FASEs) are biodiesels that are renewable, nontoxic, and biodegradable biofuels. A novel approach for the biosynthesis of FASEs has been developed using metabolically-engineered E. coli through combination of the fatty acid and 2-keto acid pathways. Several genetic engineering strategies were also developed to increase fatty acyl-CoA availability to improve FASEs production. Fed-batch cultivation of the engineered E. coli resulted in a titer of 1008 mg/L FASEs. Since the fatty acid and 2-keto acid pathways are native microbial synthesis pathways, this strategy can be implemented in a variety of microorganisms to produce various FASEs from cheap and readily-available, renewable, raw materials such as sugars and cellulose in the future.

Heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable biodiesel productionviaesterification and transesterification

Low temperature catalytic conversion of triglycerides and fatty acids sourced from renewable feedstocks represents a key enabling technology for the sustainable production of biodiesel through energy efficient, intensified processes.