Biomass suspension catalysed the generation of various alkyl esters from acid oil and virgin cottonseed oil

Abstract

A substantial reduction in the cost of biodiesel production necessitates the identification of less expensive lipid-bearing substrates and a cost-effective process. The present study demonstrates the use of biomass suspension of Aspergillus sps. as a whole-cell catalyst for the generation of various alkyl esters from acid oil and cottonseed oil with different alcohols (methanol to decanol) as acyl acceptors. The yield of alkyl esters increased from methanol (79%) to pentanol (87%), followed by a decrease from hexanol (80%) to decanol (55%) in the case of acid oil. The extent of transesterification was significantly higher [P < 0.05] in case of acid oil, with most of the acyl acceptors as compared to cottonseed oil. The study reveals the potential use of biomass suspension of fungus as a catalyst and acid oil as an alternative, low-cost bearing, and quality feedstock for the generation of biodiesel for a diverse variety of industrial/commercial use.

Keywords:

• Whole-cell catalysis
• transesterification
• alkyl esters
• acid oil
• cottonseed oil

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the research grant provided by BRNS (2010/35/12/BRNS/2560), India for carrying out the study. The NMR and other analytical facilities provided by SAI Labs, Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology are duly acknowledged. Mr. Sharma acknowledges CSIR, India for the Senior Research Fellowship (09/677/(0022)/2014-EMR-I).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).