5-78: Development of continuous process on biodiesel production by immobilizeed and co-immobilized lipases

In this study, transesterification and esterification were investigated in a packed-bed reactor using immobilized and co-immobilized Candida rugosa and Rhizopus oryzae lipases. In a circulation process, optimal conditions were investigated to increase the reaction rate and conversion yield. The optimal flow rate was 0.8 mL/min. When immobilized and co-immobilized lipases were used in the circulation process, the conversion yield of biodiesel reached 94.56 % at 3 h and 99.45 % at 2 h, respectively. In the continuous process, optimal conditions of batch and circulation processes were also investigated. Under optimized reaction conditions (45 °C, 0.8 mL/min flow rate  and 10 % water contents), the conversion yield of immobilized and co-immobilized lipases exceeded over 80% for 120 h.