An optimal continuous production of biodiesel by methanolysis of soybean oil in a packed-bed reactor was developed using immobilized lipase (Novozym 435) as a catalyst in a tert-butanol solvent system. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box-Behnken design were employed to evaluate the effects of reaction temperature, flow rate, and substrate molar ratio on the molar conversion of biodiesel. The results showed that flow rate and temperature have significant effects on the percentage of molar conversion. On the basis of ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions were as follows: flow rate 0.1 mL/min, temperature 52.1°C, and substrate molar ratio 1 : 4. The predicted and experimental values of molar conversion were 83.31 ± 2.07% and 82.81 ± .98%, respectively. Furthermore, the continuous process over 30 days showed no appreciable decrease in the molar conversion. The paper demonstrates the applicability of using immobilized lipase and a packed-bed reactor for continuous biodiesel synthesis.

Three immobilised lipases were screened and 15 reaction conditions were tested in order to find the combination for maximum yield. The optimisation of 2-PEAc synthesis catalysed by Novozym(®) 435 was successfully developed. The kinetic study of this transesterification reaction showed that it followed an ordered ping-pong bi-bi mechanism without any inhibition by reactants.

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A continuous process for the enzymatic synthesis of biodiesel, fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from soybean oil, catalyzed by immobilized lipase from Candida antarctica (Novozym 435) was investigated. Novozym 435 was packed in a packed-bed reactor and used to catalyze the alcoholysis of methanol and soybean oil to produce FAMEs in a cosolvent system. Response surface methodology (RSM) and 3-factor-3-level fractional factorial design were employed to evaluate the effects of synthesis parameters, such as reaction temperature (45-65 °C), flow rate (0.1-0.5 mL/min), and substrate molar ratio of methanol to soybean oil (3:1-5:1) on percentage molar conversion of FAMEs by alcoholysis. Reaction temperature and flow rate had significant effects on the percent molar conversion. On the basis of ridge max analysis, the optimum conditions for synthesis were as follows: reaction temperature 52 °C, flow rate 0.1 mL/min, and substrate molar ratio 4.3:1. The predicted value was 74.2%, and the actual experimental value was 75.2% molar conversion.

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