RESEARCH Open Access
Application of a Burkholderia cepacia lipaseimmobilized silica monolith to batch and
continuous biodiesel production with a
stoichiometric mixture of methanol and crude
Jatropha oil
Koei Kawakami*
, Yasuhiro Oda and Ryo Takahashi...
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RESEARCH Open Access
Application of a Burkholderia cepacia lipaseimmobilized silica monolith to batch and
continuous biodiesel production with a
stoichiometric mixture of methanol and crude
Jatropha oil
Koei Kawakami*
, Yasuhiro Oda and Ryo Takahashi
Abstract
Background: The enzymatic production of biodiesel through alcoholysis of triglycerides has become more
attractive because it shows potential in overcoming the drawbacks of chemical processes.
In this study, we
investigate the production of biodiesel from crude, non-edible Jatropha oil and methanol to characterize
Burkholderia cepacia lipase immobilized in an n-butyl-substituted hydrophobic silica monolith.
We also evaluate the
performance of a lipase-immobilized silica monolith bioreactor in the continuous production of biodiesel.
Results: The Jatropha oil used contained 18% free fatty acids, which is problematic in a base-catalyzed process.
In
the lipase-catalyzed reaction, the presence of free fatty acids made the reaction m
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