Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil for biodiesel production in tert-amyl alcohol

Lipase-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil and methanol for biodiesel production in tert-amyl alcohol was investigated. The effects of different organic medium, molar ratio of substrate, reaction temperature, agitation speed, lipase dosage and water content on the total conversion were systematically analyzed. Under the optimal conditions identified ( 6 mL tert-amyl alcohol, three molar ratio of methanol to oil, 2% Novozym 435 lipase based on the soybean oil weight, temperature 40 degrees C, 2% water content based on soybean oil weight, 150 rpm and 15 h), the highest biodiesel conversion yield of 97% was obtained. With tert-amyl alcohol as the reaction medium, the negative effects caused by excessive molar ratio of methanol to oil and the by-product glycerol could be reduced. Furthermore, there was no evident loss in the lipase activity even after being repeatedly used for more than 150 runs.