Continuous enzymatic production of biodiesel from virgin and waste sunflower oil in supercritical carbon dioxide

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Abstract

A continuous process for biodiesel production in supercritical carbon dioxide was implemented. In the transesterification of virgin sunflower oil with methanol, Lipozyme TL IM led to fatty acid methyl esters yields (FAME) that exceeded 98% at 20 MPa and 40 °C, for a residence time of 20 s and an oil to methanol molar ratio of 1:24. Even for moderate reaction conversions, a fractionation stage based on two separators afforded FAME with >96% purity. Lipozyme TL IM was less efficient with waste cooking sunflower oil. In this case, a combination of Lipozyme TL IM and Novozym 435 afforded FAME yields nearing 99%.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)259-264
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Supercritical Fluids
Volume56
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2011
Event2nd Iberoamerican Conference on Supercritical Fluids (PROSCIBA) - Natal, Brazil
Duration: 5 Apr 20109 Apr 2010

Keywords

  • Biodiesel
  • Downstream processing
  • Lipase
  • Waste cooking oil

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