Selection of Lipases for the Synthesis of Biodiesel from Jatropha Oil and the Potential of Microwave Irradiation to Enhance the Reaction Rate

The present study deals with the enzymatic synthesis of biodiesel by transesterification of Jatropha oil (Jatropha curcas L.) with ethanol in a solvent-free system. Seven commercial lipase preparations immobilized by covalent attachment on epoxy-polysiloxane-polyvinyl alcohol composite (epoxy-SiO2-PVA) were tested as biocatalysts. Among them, immobilized lipases from Pseudomonas fluorescens (lipase AK) and Burkholderia cepacia (lipase PS) were the most active biocatalysts in biodiesel synthesis, reaching ethyl ester yields (FAEE) of 91.1 and 98.3% at 72 h of reaction, respectively. The latter biocatalyst exhibited similar performance compared to Novozym® 435. Purified biodiesel was characterized by different techniques. Transesterification reaction carried out under microwave irradiation exhibited higher yield and productivity than conventional heating. The operational stability of immobilized lipase PS was determined in repeated batch runs under conventional and microwave heating systems, revealing half-life times of 430.4 h and 23.5 h, respectively.