3-10: ENHANCED BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM Jatropha curcas SEEDS OIL BY SFN-IMMOBILIZED LIPASE OF Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015

Monday, April 29, 2013
Exhibit Hall
Michael Bamitale Osho1, Inyang Akpan2, Tope Popoola2 and T. A. Arowolo3, (1)Biological Sciences, McPherson University, Abeokuta, Nigeria, (2)Microbiology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria, (3)Toxicology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be synthesized from edible, non-edible and waste oils. Due to diminishing petroleum reserve, vegetable oils have attracted attention from scientists and researchers as a potential renewable source for the production of alternative energy source. Enzymatic production of biodiesel has several advantages over chemical method but its application suffers setback due to high cost of enzyme. Whole cells of Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 was cultured on rice bran, jatropha cake, soyabean flour and cassava flour (5:5:3:1) solid medium at 30±2oC for 96hr for production of lipase. The lipase was immobilized unto support matrix of structural fibrous network (SFN) of carica papaya wood and used for the production of biodiesel from relatively low cost non-edible oil from Jatropha curcas seeds. Immobilized whole cells of A. niger ATCC 1015 resulted in lipase with specific activity of 445U/mg at 96h. Methanolysis of J. curcas progressed faster than ethanolysis.  Methanol added to oil (molar ratio 4:1) at 8 hourly intervals resulted in 78wt% methyl ester content at 24h. Cross-linked immobilized lipase can be used repeatedly with 90% initial lipase activity being retained after 11 cycles. This study shows that immobilized lipase from A. niger ATCC 1015 obviates the need for labour intensive and costly purification steps involved in the application of enzyme for biodiesel production.