Combined Use of a Two-Stage Packed Bed Reactor with a Glycerol Extraction Column for Enzymatic Biodiesel Synthesis from Macaw Palm Oil

Biodiesel production by ethanolysis of macaw palm oil mediated by Burkholderia cepacia lipase immobilized on SiO2-PVA was assessed in packed bed reactors (PBRs). Reactors with different height-to-diameter ratios (l/d) were used for continuous runs carried out using an oil-to-ethanol molar ratio of 1:12 at a fixed space-time (14 h). The best performance was attained by using reactor with an lid of 15, which was further used to perform runs with different space times in a two-stage PBR by incorporating a column with cationic resin for removing the glycerol formed as byproduct. The system operation for a space-time of 16 h resulted in a productivity of 37.9 +/- 2.4 mg(ester).g(medium)(-1).h(-1) (ethyl esters yield = 96.3 +/- 2.1%). Efficient glycerol removal helped the biocatalyst stability, with a half-life (t(1/2)) of 1512 h. The results demonstrate that a continuous enzymatic production of biodiesel from macaw palm oil can generate high yield in a two-stage PBR system incorporating a glycerol extraction column.