title: Enzymatic biodiesel synthesis in semi-pilot continuous process in near-critical carbon dioxide.
abstract: A semi-pilot continuous process (SPCP) for enzymatic biodiesel synthesis utilizing near-critical carbon dioxide (NcCO₂) as the reaction medium was developed with the aim of reducing the reaction time and alleviating the catalyst inhibition by methanol. Biodiesel synthesis was evaluated in both lab-scale and semi-pilot scale reactors (batch and continuous reactors). In a SPCP, the highest conversion (∼99.9 %) in four and a half hours was observed when three-step substrate (methanol) addition (molar ratio [oil/methanol] = 1:1.3) was used and the reaction mixture containing enzyme (Lipozyme TL IM, 20 wt.% of oil) was continuously mixed (agitation speed = 300 rpm) at 30 °C and 100 bar in a CO₂ environment. The biodiesel produced from canola oil conformed to the fuel standard (EU) even without additional downstream processing, other than glycerol separation and drying.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 139-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myunggu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dohoon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jaehoon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Sangyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chulhwan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D001203:Ascomycota / Q000201:enzymology; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D019149:Bioreactors; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002384:Catalysis; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D008049:Lipase / Q000737:chemistry*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized; D005656:Fungal Proteins; D010938:Plant Oils; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; C093666:Lipozyme; D008049:Lipase