Biodiesel production by solvent-free ethanolysis of palm oil catalyzed by fermented solids containing lipases of Burkholderia contaminans

Integrated Cleaner Biocatalytic Process for Biodiesel Production from Crude Palm Oil Comparing to Refined Palm Oil

An integrated cleaner biocatalyst process was performed for biodiesel production from crude palm oil (CPO) and refined palm oil (RPO). It was evaluated on process efficiency in terms of high purity of biodiesel as well as by-products without purification, less wastewater, less time consuming, and a simple downstream process. A first saponification step was carried out in both f CPO and RPO, a high purity of glycerol (86.25% and 87.5%) was achieved, respectively, while free fatty acids (FFASs) in soap were obtained after hexane extraction. High yields of FFASs were obtained from both CPO and RPO (98.83% and 90.94%). Subsequently, the FFAs were esterified to biodiesel by a biocatalyst of immobilized lipase. The highest biodiesel yields achieved were of 92.14% and 92.58% (CPO and RPO). Remarkably, biodiesel yields obtained from CPO and RPO achieved satisfactory values and the biocatalyst used could be reused for more than 16–17 cycles.

Performing under pressure: esterification activity of dry fermented solids in subcritical and supercritical CO2

OBJECTIVE

Lipases are often used in immobilized form, but commercial immobilized lipases are costly. An alternative is to produce lipases in solid-state fermentation, dry the solids and then use the "dry fermented solids" (DFS) directly. We produced DFS by growing Burkholderia contaminans on a mixture of sugarcane bagasse and sunflower seed meal and used the DFS to esterify oleic acid with ethanol in subcritical and supercritical CO₂ at 40 °C.

RESULTS

Compared to a control without CO₂ at atmospheric pressure, subcritical CO₂ at 30 bar improved esterification activity 1.2-fold. Higher pressures, including supercritical pressures up to 150 bar, reduced activity to less than 80% of the control. At 30 bar, the esterification activity was improved a further 1.8-fold with the addition of 9% water (i.e. 9 g water per 100 g oleic acid) to the reaction medium.

CONCLUSION

A subcritical CO₂ atmosphere, with the addition of a small amount of water, improved the esterification activity of DFS containing lipases of Burkholderia contaminans.

Biodiesel Production Catalyzed by a Methanol-Tolerant Lipase A from Candida antarctica in the Presence of Excess Water

In this article, biodiesel was prepared using a novel free liquid lipase A from Candida antarctica (CALA) as a catalyst in the presence of excess water. The methanol tolerance of CALA was investigated. The effect of reaction conditions, including the molar ratio of soybean oil to methanol, water load, CALA load, reaction temperature, and reaction time, was evaluated. Reaction thermodynamics and kinetics were also analyzed. Results showed that free liquid lipase CALA showed excellent methanol tolerance in the reaction system using one-step addition of methanol and can be used to prepare biodiesel with water load of 12-14%. The influence of three transesterification variables on biodiesel yield was water load > temperature > time. The transesterification conditions were optimized by response surface methodology as follows: CALA load 5%, substrate molar ratio (soybean oil/methanol) 1:7, water load 14%, reaction time 26 h, and temperature 38 °C. The maximum biodiesel yield (92.4 ± 0.8%) was obtained under optimal conditions. The activation energy for biodiesel formation was 52.58 kJ/mol. Kinetic parameters K _m ^' and V _max were 4.84 × 10^-1 mol/L and 6.85 × 10^-2 mol/(L·min), respectively. The mechanism of CALA-catalyzed transesterification was also proposed.

Lipase Immobilization on Silica Xerogel Treated with Protic Ionic Liquid and its Application in Biodiesel Production from Different Oils

Treated silica xerogel with protic ionic liquid (PIL) and bifunctional agents (glutaraldehyde and epichlorohydrin) is a novel support strategy used in the effective immobilization of lipase from Burkholderia cepacia (LBC) by covalent binding. As biocatalysts with the highest activity recovery yields, LBC immobilized by covalent binding with epichlorohydrin without (203%) and with PIL (250%), was assessed by the following the hydrolysis reaction of olive oil and characterized biochemically (Michaelis⁻Menten constant, optimum pH and temperature, and operational stability). Further, the potential transesterification activity for three substrates: sunflower, soybean, and colza oils, was also determined, achieving a conversion of ethyl esters between 70 and 98%. The supports and the immobilized lipase systems were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), elemental analysis, and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis.