Synthesis of biodiesel from waste cooking oil using immobilized lipase in fixed bed reactor

Waste cooking oil (WCO) is the residue from the kitchen, restaurants, food factories and even human and animal waste which not only harm people's health but also causes environmental pollution. The production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil to partially substitute petroleum diesel is one of the measures for solving the twin problems of environment pollution and energy shortage. In this project, synthesis of biodiesel was catalyzed by immobilized Candida lipase in a three-step fixed bed reactor. The reaction solution was a mixture of WCO, water, methanol and solvent (hexane). The main product was biodiesel consisted of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), of which methyl oleate was the main component. Effects of lipase, solvent, water, and temperature and flow of the reaction mixture on the synthesis of biodiesel were analyzed. The results indicate that a 91.08% of FAME can be achieved in the end product under optimal conditions. Most of the chemical and physical characters of the biodiesel were superior to the standards for 0(#)diesel (GB/T 19147) and biodiesel (DIN V51606 and ASTM D-6751).

Lipase-catalyzed synthesis of biodiesel from acid oil in fixed bed reactor

Acid oil, which is a by-product in vegetable oil refining, mainly contains free fatty acids (FFAs) and acylglycerols and is a feedstock for production of biodiesel fuel now. The transesterification of acid oil and methanol to biodiesel was catalyzed by immobilized Candida lipase in fixed bed reactors. The reactant solution was a mixture of acid oil, water, methanol and solvent (hexane) and the main product was biodiesel composed of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) of which the main component was methyl oleate. The effects of lipase content, solvent content, water content temperature and flow velocity of the reactant on the reaction were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that a maximum FAME content of 90.18% can be obtained in the end product under optimum conditions. Most of the chemical and physical properties of the biodiesel were superior to the standards for 0(#) diesel (GB/T 19147) and biodiesel (DIN V51606 and ASTM D6751).

Production and characterization of biodiesel from tung oil

The feasibility of biodiesel production from tung oil was investigated. The esterification reaction of the free fatty acids of tung oil was performed using Amberlyst-15. Optimal molar ratio of methanol to oil was determined to be 7.5:1, and Amberlyst-15 was 20.8wt% of oil by response surface methodology. Under these reaction conditions, the acid value of tung oil was reduced to 0.72mg KOH/g. In the range of the molar equivalents of methanol to oil under 5, the esterification was strongly affected by the amount of methanol but not the catalyst. When the molar ratio of methanol to oil was 4.1:1 and Amberlyst-15 was 29.8wt% of the oil, the acid value decreased to 0.85mg KOH/g. After the transesterification reaction of pretreated tung oil, the purity of tung biodiesel was 90.2wt%. The high viscosity of crude tung oil decreased to 9.8mm(2)/s at 40 degrees C. Because of the presence of eleostearic acid, which is a main component of tung oil, the oxidation stability as determined by the Rancimat method was very low, 0.5h, but the cold filter plugging point, -11 degrees C, was good. The distillation process did not improve the fatty acid methyl ester content and the viscosity.