Effect of phospholipids on free lipase-mediated methanolysis for biodiesel production

Decreasing acid value of fatty acid ethyl ester products using complex enzymes

Recently, enzymatic method has been used to prepare biodiesel using various oils. But the high acid value of the biodiesel product using enzyme as a catalyst has been one issue. In this work, an attempt to reduce the acid value of fatty acid ethyl ester (FAEE) product to satisfy the specified requirement (AV ≤ 0.5 mgKOH/g), a complex enzyme-catalyzed method was used for the ethanolysis of Semen Abutili seed oil (SASO) (AV = 5.5 ± 0.3 mgKOH/g). The effects of various variables (constituents of complex enzyme, type and addition of water removal agent, time, temperature, enzyme addition load, substrate ratio) on the enzymatic reaction were investigated. The optimal reaction conditions were: 1% addition of liquid lipase Eversa® Transform 2.0% and 0.8% of enzyme dry powder CALB, reaction temperature 35°C, alcohol-oil ratio 9:1 (mol/mol), 0.8 g/g of 4A-MS and reaction time 24 h. Under the optimal reaction conditions, the FAEE yield was 90.8% ± 1.5% and its acid value was decreased from 12.0 ± 0.2 mgKOH/g to 0.39 ± 0.10 mgKOH/g. In further evaluating the feasibility of preparing FAEE from SASO, the FAEE products obtained under the optimal reaction conditions were purified and evaluated with reference to the ASTM D6751 standard for the main physicochemical indexes. The results obtained were in accordance with the requirements except for the oxidative stability.

Optimization of parameters for the production of biodiesel from rubber seed oil using onsite lipase by response surface methodology

In the present study, we demonstrate the properties of rubber seed oil (RSO) and its potential application for producing biodiesel by lipase-catalyzed transesterification. Rubber seed contains 39.45% of oil on a dry weight basis. Lipase was secreted from novel bacterial isolate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain BUP2. Response Surface Methodology (RSM) cum Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was employed to optimize the combined effect of different independent parameters namely oil-methanol ratio, enzyme unit, reaction temperature and reaction time. Biodiesel yield of 99.52% was obtained in the validation experiments at the optimal level of lipase (750 U), methanol ratio (1:10), temperature (45 °C) and time (4 h). The fuel properties of biodiesel obtained under the validation condition met the specifications as mentioned in ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 standards. Biodiesel aliquots were characterized using thin-layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC), fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and elemental analysis. The present study demonstrates an important application of a potential substitute for fossil fuel from raw feedstocks with high economic value.

In Situ Enzymatic Conversion of Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1 Biomass into Fatty Acid Methyl Esters

Conventionally, production of methyl ester fuels from microalgae occurs through an energy-intensive two-step chemical extraction and transesterification process. To improve the energy efficiency, we performed in situ enzymatic conversion of whole algae biomass from an oleaginous heterokont microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica IMET1 with the immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica. The fatty acid methyl ester yield reached 107.7% for dry Nannochloropsis biomass at biomass to t-butanol to methanol weight ratio of 1:2:0.5 and a reaction time of 12 h at 25 °C, representing the first report of efficient whole algae biomass conversion into fatty acid methyl esters at room temperature. Different forms of algal biomass including wet Nannochloropsis biomass were tested. The maximum yield of wet biomass was 81.5%. Enzyme activity remained higher than 95% after 55 days of treatment (equal to 110 cycles of reaction) under the conditions optimized for dry algae biomass conversion. The low reaction temperature, high enzyme stability, and high yield from this study indicate in situ enzymatic conversion of dry algae biomass may potentially be used as an energy-efficient method for algal methyl ester fuel production while allowing co-product recovery.

Lipase cocktail for efficient conversion of oils containing phospholipids to biodiesel

The presence of phospholipid has been a challenge in liquid enzymatic biodiesel production. Among six lipases that were screened, lipase AY had the highest hydrolysis activity and a competitive transesterification activity. However, it yielded only 21.1% FAME from oil containing phospholipids. By replacing portions of these lipases with a more robust bioFAME lipase, CalT, the combination of lipase AY-CalT gave the highest FAME yield with the least amounts of free fatty acids and partial glycerides. A higher methanol addition rate reduced FAME yields for lipase DF-CalT and A10D-CalT combinations while that of lipase AY-CalT combination improved. Optimizing the methanol addition rate for lipase AY-CalT resulted in a FAME yield of 88.1% at 2h and more than 95% at 6h. This effective use of lipases could be applied for the rapid and economic conversion of unrefined oils to biodiesel.