Kinetics of glycerol effect on biodiesel production for optimal feeding of methanol

• Published in: The Korean journal of chemical engineering Vol. 28; no. 9; pp. 1908 - 1912
• Main Authors: Hong, Wan Pyo, Park, Jae Yeon, Min, Kyoungseon, Ko, Myung Joo, Park, Kyungmoon, Yoo, Young Je
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.09.2011; 한국화학공학회
• Subjects: Biotechnology; Catalysis; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Materials Science; 화학공학; Glycerol; Kinetic Model; Oil; Lipase; Enzyme; Biodiesel
• ISSN: 0256-1115; 1975-7220
• DOI: 10.1007/s11814-011-0074-9

The enzymatic production of biodiesel has been considered as an eco-friendly process. Candida antarctica lipase B (CalB) has been studied for its application for biodiesel production because of its high activity and stability. Enzyme deactivation caused by alcohol and effect of glycerol has to be resolved for the industrial application of this process. In traditional kinetic studies of biodiesel production, the effects of alcohol and oil were only considered in the kinetic equation, while the effect by glycerol was neglected. A new kinetic model incorporating glycerol effect is proposed in this paper. The proposed kinetic equation is applied by predicting the supplying rate of methanol in a fed-batch addition of methanol. The conversion rate was improved from 59.7% to 94.6% in a fed-batch by considering glycerol effect.