Lipase-catalyzed ethanolysis of Jatropha curcas L. oil assisted by ultrasonication

Lindomar A. Lerin, Daniela Remonatto, Tatiane M. M. Pereira, Mara C. Zenevicz, Alexsandra Valério, J. Vladimir Oliveira, Débora de Oliveira
2017 Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering  
Transesterification of non-edible oils using immobilized lipase is a promising process for biodiesel production. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the enzymatic transesterification of the non-edible Jatropha curcas oil for FAEE production under ultrasound irradiation in a solvent-free system. The effects of enzyme concentration, water concentration, molar ratio of ethanol to oil and ultrasound power on the FAEE conversion have been evaluated. The results show that enzyme concentration and
more » ... iation power have a positive significant effect on FAEE conversion, where an increase in these variables leads to higher conversions. Conversion above 54% of FAEE was achieved with 1.5 hours of reaction time using ultrasound irradiation, reducing reaction time by at least 3 times, when compared with the same experimental conditions without ultrasound irradiation. Results showed that ultrasound can improve reaction conversion mainly by enhancing the mass transfer between the constituents of the reactions.
doi:10.1590/0104-6632.20170342s20150717 fatcat:bsz5jrrlnffqlmkau5nxz4kzp4