Conversion of Soybean Oil to Biodiesel Fuel with Immobilized Candida Lipase on Textile Cloth

Abstract

The characteristic of biodiesel fuel production from transesterification of soybean oil is studied. The reactant solution is the mixture of soybean oil, methanol, and solvent. A new lipase immobilization method, textile cloth immobilization, was developed in this study. Immobilized Candida lipase sp. 99–125 was applied as the enzyme catalyst. The effect of flow rate of reaction liquid, solvents, reaction time, and water content on the biodiesel yield is investigated. Products analysis shows that the main components in biodiesel are methyl sterate, methyl hexadecanoate, methyl oleate, methyl linoleate, and methyl linolenate. The test results indicate that the maximum yield of biodiesel of 92% was obtained at the conditions of hexane being the solvent, water content being 20 wt%, and reaction time being 24 h.

Keywords:

• biodiesel
• lipase
• soybean oil
• textile cloth

Acknowledgment

The financial support received from 2006 Guangdong Province Guangdong-Hongkong Tender Project (200649851301) and Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (2004J1-C0101) is gratefully appreciated.