Kinetics of enzymatic esterification of glycerol and free fatty acids in crude Jatropha oil by immobilized lipase from Rhizomucor miehei

An overview on the conversion of glycerol to value-added industrial products via chemical and biochemical routes

Glycerol is a common by-product of industrial biodiesel syntheses. Due to its properties, availability, and versatility, residual glycerol can be used as a raw material in the production of high value-added industrial inputs and outputs. In particular, products like hydrogen, propylene glycol, acrolein, epichlorohydrin, dioxalane and dioxane, glycerol carbonate, n-butanol, citric acid, ethanol, butanol, propionic acid, (mono-, di-, and triacylglycerols), cynamoil esters, glycerol acetate, benzoic acid, and other applications. In this context, the present study presents a critical evaluation of the innovative technologies based on the use of residual glycerol in different industries, including the pharmaceutical, textile, food, cosmetic, and energy sectors. Chemical and biochemical catalysts in the transformation of residual glycerol are explored, along with the factors to be considered regarding the choice of catalyst route used in the conversion process, aiming at improving the production of these industrial products.

Improved Productivity of Naringin Oleate with Flavonoid and Fatty Acid by Efficient Enzymatic Esterification

Naringin is a flavonoid found in citrus fruits. It exhibits biological activities, such as anticancer and antioxidant effects, but it suffers from low solubility and low stability in lipophilic systems. These drawbacks lead to difficulties in the commercial application of naringin, but they can be overcome through esterification. In this study, naringin oleate was synthesized by enzymatic esterification and optimal conditions for the reaction were investigated. Experiments were conducted focusing on the following parameters: enzyme type, enzyme concentration, molar ratio of naringin to oleic acid, reaction temperature, and reaction solvent. We further confirmed the degree of esterification based on the difference in the initial and the final naringin concentrations. A conversion of 93.10% was obtained under optimized conditions (Lipozyme TL IM 10 g/L, molar ratio 1:20, reaction temperature 40 °C, acetonitrile as solvent, and 48 h reaction time). Thus, naringin oleate, a high value-added material that overcomes the low hydrophobicity of naringin and enhances its performance, was obtained through esterification of naringin using oleic acid. This study presented a method for the efficient enzymatic synthesis that could ensure high conversion within a shorter reaction time compared with that required in previously reported methods.

Continuous production of monoacylglycerol via glycerolysis of babassu oil by immobilized Burkholderia cepacia lipase in a packed bed reactor

This study investigated the glycerolysis of babassu oil by Burkholderia cepacia lipase immobilized on SiO₂-PVA particles in a continuous packed bed reactor. Experiments were conducted in a solvent-free system at 273.15 K either in an inert atmosphere or in the presence of cocoa butter to prevent lipid oxidation. The reactor (15 × 55 mm) was run at a fixed space time of 9.8 h using different molar ratios of babassu oil to glycerol (1:3, 1:6, 1:9, 1:12, and 1:15) to assess the effects of reactant molar ratio on monoacylglycerol productivity and selectivity. Nitrogen atmosphere and cocoa butter were equally effective in inhibiting lipid oxidation, indicating that addition of cocoa butter to glycerolysis reactions may be an interesting cost-reduction strategy. An oil/glycerol molar ratio of 1:9 resulted in the highest productivity (52.3 ± 2.9 mg g^-1 h^-1) and selectivity (31.5 ± 1.8%). Residence time distribution data were fitted to an axial dispersion model for closed-vessel boundary conditions, giving a mass transfer coefficient (k_c) of 3.4229 × 10^-6 m s^-1. A kinetic model based on elementary steps of the studied reaction was written in Scilab and compared with experimental data, providing standard deviations in the range of 5.5-7.5%.

Effects of enzymatic free fatty acid reduction process on the composition and phytochemicals of rice bran oil

The effects of enzymatic free fatty acid reduction process (EFFARP) on the composition and phytochemicals of dewaxed and degummed rice bran oil (DDRBO) were investigated and compared with the effects observed using internal acyl acceptors. The acid value of DDRBO was effectively decreased from 16.99 mg KOH/g to approximately 0.36 mg KOH/g by EFFARP. EFFARP significantly decreased the moisture content and peroxide value of DDRBO and increased the induction period. The Sn-2 fatty acid comoposition of DDRBO after EFFARP was very reaching the total fatty acid composition. EFFARP significantly increased the triacylglycerol content compared to the control, while the oryzanol content was not obviously affected. The contents of free sterol, and total tocopherol and tocotrienol were increased slightly by EFFARP compared to the control. When conducted under vacuum with added nitrogen, EFFARP shows great application potential in the edible oil industry.

Kinetics and Gibbs Function Studies on Lipase-Catalyzed Production of Non-Phthalate Plasticizer

Petroleum based phthalate plasticizers encounter enormous claims to prohibit their production due to their harmful health impacts when they are mixed with plastics. That is why efforts are being done to find safer natural alternatives. We have investigated the reaction kinetics of the esterification epoxidation of oleic acid and 2-ethylhexanol in the presence of hydrogen peroxide catalyzed using Candida antarctica lipase (Novozym 435, Novozymes, Kobenhavn, Denmark). The product of this reaction is epoxidized 2-ethylhexyl oleate, a non-phthalate green plasticizer. The kinetic model for this reaction follows a multi-substrate PingPong Bi-Bi mechanism with competitive inhibition by the alcohol. The reaction's kinetic parameters were found to be 0.76 M, 0.37 M, 0.08 M, and 37.20 mM/min for Michalis-Menten constant for oleic acid (K_mo), Michalis-Menten constant for alcohol (K_ma), alcohol inhibition constant (K_ia), and maximum reaction velocity (V_max), respectively. Then the Gibbs function analysis of the transition state based on the Arrhenius and Eyring equations was carried out. The internal diffusional limitations were found to be negligible as the effectiveness factor took the value of almost unity. While the external mass transfer resistance had no effect on the reaction due to operating at relatively high agitation speed and high temperature. This investigation confirms that this reaction was only kinetically controlled.

Semi-continuous Production of 2-Ethyl Hexyl Ester in a Packed Bed Reactor: Optimization and Economic Evaluation

The aim of this work was to investigate the technical as well as the economic feasibility of producing 2-ethyl hexyl oleate (2-EHO), a non-phthalate plasticizer in a solvent free medium. The esterification reaction between oleic acid and 2-ethyl hexyl alcohol was carried out in a packed bed reactor (PBR) using Candida antarctica lipase B (Novozym 435; Novozymes; Copenhagen-Denmark) as biocatalyst. RSM was employed to optimize the esterification reaction conditions. The optimum reaction conditions were found to be flow rate of 1.5 mL/min, No. of cycles of 12 and molar ratio of 4:1 2-ethyl hexanol to oleic acid. The maximum experimental and predicated conversions were found to be 95.8% and 95.61% respectively. Formation of 2-EHO was approved by FTIR, ¹HNMR and ¹³CNMR. From the economic prospective, PBR was capable of producing 2-EHO with a purity of more than 94% over 480 h without remarkable reduction of enzyme activity. This revealed an economic production of 2-EHO at a yield of 2 tons kg^-1 lipase. The manufacturing cost was found to be $ 1.88 /kg 2-EHO, this contributed to a profit of about 30% compared to the commercial price of 2-EHO. Such results approve the technical and economic feasibility for this sustainable method in esters production.

Esterification of Lauric Acid with Glycerol in the Presence of STA/MCM-41 Catalysts

Esterification reaction between glycerol and lauric acid in the presence of STA/MCM-41 and H2SO4 catalysts indicated that the activity of synthesized catalyst had been comparable to H2SO4. On the other hand, only di glyceride formation instead of favored mono glyceride has been observed with H2SO4 which had rendered the use of heterogeneous STA/MCM-41 catalyst preferable. Temperature had a decreasing effect on lauric acid conversion due to competitive adsorption of water on catalyst structure. The high mono glyceride selectivity obtained in favor of the desired product was due to shape selectivity of the catalyst. High glycerol amount in feed ratio resulted in deformation of long range order of the catalyst structure and hence a decrease in mono glyceride selectivity. Experiments conducted in identical conditions in the presence of recovered catalysts showed a decrease in lauric acid conversion which had been due to loss of STA from catalyst structure.

A kinetic study on the Novozyme 435-catalyzed esterification of free fatty acids with octanol to produce octyl esters

Octyl esters can serve as an important class of biolubricant components replacing their mineral oil counterparts. The purpose of the current work was to investigate the enzymatic esterification reaction of free fatty acids (FFA, from waste cooking oil) with octanol in a solvent-free system using a commercial lipase Novozyme 435. It was found that the esterificaton reaction followed the Ping-pong bi-bi kinetics with no inhibition by substrates or products within the studied concentration range. The maximum reaction rate was estimated to be 0.041 mol L(-1) g(-1) h(-1) . Additionally, the stability of Novozyme 435 in the current reaction system was studied by determining its activity and final conversion of FFA to esters after 12 successive utilizations. Novozyme 435 exhibited almost 100% enzyme activity up to 7 cycles of reaction and gradually decreased (by 5%) thereafter. The kinetic parameters evaluated from the study shall assist in the design of reactors for large-scale production of octyl esters from a cheap biomass source. The enzyme reusability data can further facilitate mass production by curtailing the cost of expensive enzyme consumption.